Friends of a Rice Ball
by Dolphingirl32173
Summary: A story about a Rice Ball and her friends. Rated T for language. ON HIATUS
1. Sari and Casey

Friends of a Rice Ball

DG32173 & Aniasin

Sarah: well, here's a little Fruits Basket fanfic I'm making with my niece. Please enjoy. We don't own Fruits Basket, but we do own Sari and Casey Hinori and this story. So please don't steal.

Aniasin: Howdy, I'm the niece Sarah's talking about here. That is _not _my real name. It's my pen name just to clear that up. Please don't steal. That'd make me sad…very sad.

_**!!WARNINGS!!**_

Lots of cursing, plenty of funny moments, and … um … I think that's it for now.

_**SUMMARY**_

A story about a Rice Ball and her friends. _**Kyo/Tohru, Yuki/Sari, Shigure/Casey**_

_**NOTE  
**__**(Authors note) **_**  
**"Talking"  
'Thinking'  
Scene change  
**POV change**  
_Memory_  
_Scene change in memory_

_**DESCRIPTIONS**_

_**Sari**_  
_Name:_ Sari Hinori  
_Age:_ 16 _**same as Kyo, Tohru, and Yuki**_  
_Height:_ 5'6"  
_Eye Color:_ metallic blue  
_Hair Color:_ snow white  
_Hair Style:_ straight _**usually kept in a French Braid**_  
_Hair Length:_ waist  
_Status:_ psychic, Casey's little sister

_**Casey**_  
_Name:_ Cassandra Hinori  
_Age:_ 17  
_Height:_ 5'3"  
_Eye Color:_ reddish-green  
_Hair Color:_ four-colors _**Red, Blonde, Black, Brown**_  
_Hair Style:_ wavy _**usually kept in a pony tail**_  
_Hair length:_ shoulder blades  
_Status:_ shape-shifter, Sari's older sister

* * *

Chapter 1

Sari and Casey

"UGH! DAMNED SHIGURE!" Kyo yells as he, Yuki, and Tohru run across Sohma land at top speed. "WHY THE HELL DID HE GO AND DO THAT?!"

In case you're wondering, Shigure had decided to play a prank on the three students by setting their alarms back by half an hour. And now they are _really_ late. It takes about thirty minutes for them to walk to school from Shigure's house, and they usually get there with fifteen minutes to spare. Unfortunately, today they have only thirty minutes before school starts and they had just set off.

Suddenly, Tohru runs straight into a girl with long white hair wearing a boys' school uniform, knocking them both to the ground. "Dammit! Watch where the hell you're … TOHRU?! HONDA TOHRU?!" the girl starts, ending in a yelp.

"Huh?" Tohru asks, looking up at the girl in shock.

"IT _IS_ YOU!" the girl screeches, tackling Tohru in a tight hug.

"SARI?! HINORI SARI?!" Tohru yelps in surprise, returning the hug.

Suddenly, another girl comes running up. This girl has multi-colored hair up in a ponytail and reddish green eyes. She, too, is wearing a boys' uniform. "Sari! We don't have _time_ to go around hugging people! We're late as it is!" she yells at the white-haired girl.

"But Casey-nee-chan! It's To-chan!" Sari whines, pushing Tohru towards the shorter girl so as to prove it.

"Nice to meet you; but we'll get to introductions later. For now we're _late!"_ Casey says. "We've only got twenty minutes until school starts!"

Sari yelps, grabs Tohru's wrist, and takes off down the road at top speed, Tohru flying behind her like a flag. "Uh…," Kyo says, wondering what the _hell_ just happened.

"We'll talk later," Casey insists. "For now, I need to make sure my sister doesn't jerk Tohru-san's arm out of socket on accident." With that, she takes off at top speed after her sister and Tohru, the boys following right behind her.

At school

"IS _EVERYONE_ TRYING TO BREAK THE RULES?!" a sharp male voice yells when the student president sees Casey and Sari Hinori walking through the school with Yuki, Kyo, and Tohru.

"Mah," Sari mutters, rubbing her head. "Shut up, bastard. You're giving me a headache."

"GIRLS SHOULD NOT BE WEARING THE BOYS' UNIFORM!" the guy _**(we've seriously forgotten his name)**_ yells. Then he turns his full attention onto Casey. "AND YOU SHOULDN'T DYE YOUR HAIR SO ABSURDLY!"

Casey scowls. "This is _natural,"_ she growls as she glares at the boy. Who gave this idiot the right to boss people around? It was making her very angry.

"LIES!" he yells. "DYE YOUR HAIR BACK TO ITS NORMAL COLOR!"

Casey raises an eyebrow and is about to say something when Sari sighs and grabs the guy by his collar, bringing his face close to her pissed off one. "I see you've forgotten who I am, bastard," she snarls angrily. Casey chuckles inwardly. "And here I thought you'd _never_ forget the name Hinori Sari after that beating I gave you seven years ago! And leave my sister alone, asshole, or you'll get a beating that'll make that one seem like a tap on the head."

The guy pales when Sari says her name. "S-S-S-S-S-SARI?!" he yelps, turning whiter than her hair. "You're back?!"

"Of course I'm back, bastard," Sari says mockingly. "Now get the hell outta my sight," she continues, releasing him. He runs away at top speed, as if she had sent a demon after him or something.

"About damn time." Casey growls angrily as she subconsciously twirls her hair around her finger. She was getting real ticked about people teasing her about her hair. Well, at least she had Sari.

"Damn, I've never seen anyone move that fast," Kyo murmurs.

"Mah, I had a record a kilometer long when I was younger. He's one of the kids I used to beat up regularly to vent frustration," Sari states, putting her arms behind her head and smiling wistfully as she thinks back on it. "Nobody _ever_ messed with my friends and family and survived unscathed. It happened so often, even the cops were afraid of me. After all, a few of the people who messed with my friends _were_ cops. They were so mean to Koko-chan, To-chan's mom. I mean, sure, Koko-chan was a gangster when she was our age, but that's no reason to be cruel to a woman who put every fiber of her being into raising a daughter alone after To-chan's dad died. So I decided to have a 'talk' with them one night … they left Koko-chan alone after that, as they should've in the beginning!"

"You're joking about the record, right?" Yuki asks uncertainly.

"Che, Sari doesn't joke about that sort of stuff," Casey says. "If anything, she's understating it. I'd thought it was _over_ two kilometers long." She grins at the now dumbfounded boys. "You don't mess with Sari's friends and family without retribution. Hell, she even beat up some kids who were bullying me about my hair; they left me well enough alone after that. She _is_ a black belt at every martial arts there is, after all."

"_Every_ martial arts?" Kyo asks, blinking his eyes in wonder.

Sari smiles. "There _might_ be a few overseas that I haven't found out about yet; but every martial arts I've heard of, I've become a black belt at it. And a champion lightweight boxer and wrestler to top it off," she says, closing her eyes merrily.

"Damn, you must be a good fighter," Kyo says.

"Of course I am," Sari confirms. "I'm even a jujutsu sensei at our family owned dojo. And I tutor in karate, wrestling, and boxing." Suddenly, she narrows her eyes at Kyo and Yuki, instantly putting them on high alert. Casey jerks her head towards the two to make sure they won't get killed. "I hear that To-chan is staying with you two and another relative of yours," she says softly. "Treat her well…," she continues at their nervous affirmatives. "Don't cause her _any_ form of emotional pain, or the one who does will answer to me. That's your only warning; warn your relative as well. I'm _sure _that he has heard of Hinori Sari's reputation." Then she smiles brightly, closing her eyes. "I'll stop by sometime, just to check the place out. Don't worry about giving me directions; To-chan has already taken care of that."

"Hey, I'm coming too!" Casey protests loudly as she crosses her arms and gives Sari a playful glare. Sari nods in agreement.

_Ding dong. Ding dong. Ding dong._

"Well, it seems we best get to class," Casey says, looking up at the ceiling. "See ya later, Sari," she says, turning and heading off for A-block.

"Bye Casey-nee-chan!" Sari calls happily. She then links arms with Tohru. "You said you're in Class 1-D, right?" she asks as they head for D-block. Tohru nods. She smiles brightly. "That's good; we'll be classmates again, just like in the old days!"

'Oh no…,' is the only thought going through Kyo's and Yuki's minds as they follow the girls.

* * *

Sarah: well, that's it for chapter 1. Hope you enjoyed! Chapter 2 will be up eventually, when we write it up.

Aniasin: YAY!! .


	2. Completely Unexpected

Friends of a Rice Ball

DG32173 & Aniasin

Sarah: :P I hope there are still people reading this. I mean, I think the first chapter is a little … bland … compared to what I usually write. **(shrugs)** ah, well, if there's anyone still reading, thank you! Also, we've got a guest to do the disclaimer for us today.

Kyo: why do _I_ have to do this?! Why can't you get sissy rat boy over there to do it instead?! _**(points at Yuki)**_

Sarah: _**(grins)**_ well, I suppose we _could_ embarrass you this chapter, right Aniasin?

Aniasin: Let's see…. We could always…

Kyo: fine! I'll do the disclaimer! Those girls don't own anything except Sari, Casey, and this blasted story!

Sarah: thank you Kyo! _**(glomps Kyo)**_

Kyo: _**(turns into a cat)**_ yeah, yeah, whatever. Now leave me alone!

_**NOTE  
**__**(Authors note) **_**  
**"Talking"  
'Thinking'  
Scene change  
**POV change**  
_Memory_  
_Scene change_

* * *

Chapter 2

Completely Unexpected

Sari grins at her sister as they stand on a hill overlooking Sohma Shigure's house. "Well, might as well go pay them a visit. We did come all this way, and I don't feel like turning back without visiting for a while," she says.

"Sure," Casey agrees, "Maybe they have some water. I'm thirsty."

The two girls move swiftly and silently through the forested area between them and the small house. Sari knocks on the door, and then they wait. "Coming!" they hear Tohru call from inside. The door slides open to reveal Tohru in a cleaning outfit. She blinks in surprise at first seeing them, then yelps in joy as she hugs them both. "Sari-chan! Casey-chan! We weren't expecting you to come over today!" she cries out.

Sari and Casey grin, returning the hug. It's been nearly two weeks since the Hinori sisters came into their daily life. Today is Saturday, and only around eight in the morning. "That's why we came," Sari explains, smiling brightly at her best friend. "We didn't want to give Carrot-top or Mouse a chance to prepare for our arrival." At this, Casey has to suppress a burst of laughter.

Sari has a habit of randomly nicknaming people soon after she meets them. She had decided to call Kyo 'Carrot-top' for two reasons: one, his hair is the same shade of orange as a carrot, and two, he _hates_ the nickname. She really likes teasing people she considers friends and getting on the nerves of those around her. She also nicknamed Yuki 'Mouse' because he seems to attract rats and mice wherever he goes; another reason is that she found out about his fondness of cheese and hatred of cats. She also noticed that Kyo attracts cats wherever he goes. This is the first time the Hinori sisters have come to Shigure's house, wanting to time it so, as Sari said, the guys won't be ready for them.

"Tohru-chaaaan! What's with all the noise?" Shigure asks, coming in the room. He spots Casey and Sari instantly. "Oh! We have visitors! How completely unexpected!" he exclaims.

"Shigure-san, these are Hinori Casey and Sari," Tohru says quickly. "Casey-chan, Sari-chan, this is Sohma Shigure, Kyo-kun's and Yuki-kun's older cousin."

Casey and Sari examine Shigure as he examines them in turn. Suddenly, Sari scowls and Shigure pales. "I _knew_ I recognized your name," Sari growls. "You're that perverted guy who kept sneaking up to our house when we last lived in Japan to peep into the bathroom window while Casey or I showered!" she exclaims, punching him into the wall across the room from them. "I _told_ you next time I saw you I'd punch you into a wall!" she yells as the man slowly and painfully picks himself off of the floor.

"Oh brother…" Casey slaps her forehead and shakes her head, "You _would_ be the one to remember that." She blushes with embarrassment as the memory came flooding back into her mind.

"EH?!" Tohru exclaims, wondering what Sari and Casey are talking about.

Shigure painfully rubs his jaw where her fist connected with his skin. "I'm surprised you still remember that," he comments. "It's been nearly six years, after all."

Sari scowls. "AND?!" she yells. "I BET YOU'RE JUST AS PERVERTED NOW AS YOU WERE LAST TIME WE SAW EACH OTHER!"

"Oh god, no!" Casey yelps as she leaps back, eyeing Shigure suspiciously.

"Eh-heh-heh, can ya keep it down?" Shigure chuckles nervously. If Yuki or Kyo found out about his past 'excursions' to the Hinori house, they'd assume he still does such stuff and beat the hell out of him. "I'm not like that anymore," he continues sheepishly.

"Better not be! Cause if you do _anything_ like that to To-chan, you'll have dug your own grave!" Sari retorts furiously.

"Anything like what?" a tired male voice yawns from the doorway to the next room.

"Nothing, Kyo!" Shigure says quickly … a little _too_ quickly for Kyo's taste.

The cat scowls at him. "Better be nothing," he mutters just before yawning again. Casey lowers her head so that her face could return to normal color.

"Sheesh, lazy Carrot-top; it's almost eight thirty and you're still tired?" Sari teases.

Kyo's head snaps towards her direction in surprise, seeing Casey right next to her. "What are _you_ two doing here? And stop calling me 'Carrot-top'!" he yells.

"Aw come on." Casey whines teasingly as she pouts, "You don't like your nickname?"

"NO I DON'T!!"

Sari grins. "Don't gotta," she replies. "And we're here to visit To-chan," she continues, smiling innocently at him. She turns to Tohru. "Show us your room, To-chan!" she says excitedly.

"Alright," Tohru agrees, heading upstairs at a run. Sari and Casey are right at her heels. As they hear Tohru's bedroom door slide shut, Kyo and Shigure both breathe sighs of relief. Something about Sari and Casey puts them on edge, but they don't know what.

Tohru's Room

"Woah … that's a _big_ bed!" Sari says, whistling her appreciation. Casey just stands there, jaw dropped.

"Isn't it nice? Shigure-san got it for me soon after I moved back in from Grandpa's," Tohru says, sitting on it.

Sari sits next to her while Casey curls up in a corner of the room. "It's _so_ soft!" Sari exclaims, flopping on her back. "So comfy!"

"Yeah, it is," Tohru agrees. Then she cocks her head to the side and looks questioningly at Sari. "Was what you said about Shigure-san true?" she asks sari. "About him looking through the bathroom window when one of you was showering?"

Sari scowls. "Every word was true," she growls. "The last time I caught him, before Mama took Casey and me to the States, was nearly six years ago. I was stepping out of the shower and glanced out the window. I saw him standing there watching me. When he realized I saw him, he bolted before I could get dressed to chase after him. I wrapped a towel around myself and opened the window to shout at him to tell him that next time I saw him, he was going to be punched into a wall. Three days later, Mama packed our stuff and took Casey and me to America. Today is the first time I've seen him since, and I don't go back on my word."

Casey sighs. "That pervert," she mutters. Her face flushes again.

"He better not be trying such a stunt with you, To-chan, or I'll kill him!" Sari says angrily.

"And I'll help!" Casey pipes up from her corner. She lazily stretches curling her fingers and toes before curling back up into a ball.

Tohru stares at her. "How can you move like that?" she wonders.

"I don't know." Casey replies as she goes into a back bend with her hands _and_ feet on the ground at the same time, "It's just me." She falls back onto the ground happily.

"Every joint she has is double-jointed … I think she even has joints where no one else has any," Sari puts in.

"Oh, okay," Tohru says, her eyes twirling.

Suddenly, Sari's and Casey's stomachs growl, causing both girls to blush. "Eh-heh-heh, we haven't had breakfast yet," Sari says embarrassedly.

"I'm hungry!" Casey pipes up as she lies across the floor staring at the ceiling, "What's cooking?" she adds as she sits up, smelling something interesting.

"ACK! THE TOAST!" Tohru yelps, running out of the room and downstairs at breakneck speed, Casey and Sari hot on her heels.

In the kitchen, Tohru grabs a potholder and turns off the stove. She opens the stove door and pulls out charcoal cinnamon toast. "Aww, man, I burnt them!" she whines.

"Don't worry, we'll make more," Sari says, trying to cheer up the brunette. "And I'll make my special scrambled eggs too, the ones you really love. Casey can make the sausage and bacon."

Tohru nods sadly. "Okay," she says softly. She _hates_ wasting food by burning it. But now, with Sari's scrambled eggs and Casey's bacon and sausage to look forward to, she can make more cinnamon toast with more ease.

One hour later

"Mmm! Something smells absolutely delicious!" Shigure says, walking into the kitchen while following the heavenly aroma of cooking food.

"Breakfast is almost ready," Sari replies. "Let Carrot-top and Mouse know. By the time you get back with them, we'll be ready to eat."

Yuki groans as he enters the kitchen, "Don't worry, I heard you." he replies, still unsure of whether he likes to be called 'Mouse' or not…

Suddenly Kyo comes bursting in, "HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY 'QUIT CALLING ME CARROT TOP' BEFORE YOU ACTUALLY DO?!" he yells angrily. Apparently he doesn't like his nickname very much.

"Aw, shut yer yap and sit down." Casey says sternly as she turns around, brandishing a metal spatula at the boy. Kyo quickly takes the hint and sits down opposite of Yuki. The three girls pile the food on three different serving platters and set the platters in the center of the table. Everyone serves themselves and starts eating. In seconds, Yuki, Kyo, and Shigure start trying to hog all the eggs and bacon and sausage. The Hinori sisters are _fantastic_ cooks!

"Oi! Save some for the rest of us, you pigs!" Sari yells, grabbing at the bacon and sausage. She almost _never_ gets to eat Casey's meat dishes. For all that her sister is a fantastic chef, the girl is a complete vegetarian! And she prefers cooking _vegetarian_ dishes to meat dishes. One thing Casey had managed to make Sari come to enjoy is her Tofu Meat dishes. You can't even tell they're made of tofu, they taste _exactly_ like the real thing!

"Eww…" Casey mumbles as she shudders. She absolutely _detests_ meat in allforms save for by products. Now tofu on the other hand, the girl can eat some tofu!

"Don't you want some bacon or sausage, Casey-chan?" Tohru asks curiously. "It's going _fast."_

Sari hears this and starts choking on her bacon.

"Uh…Tohru…I may _cook_ meat but I'm a vegetarian…" Casey replies as she looks at the food in disgust.

The room is suddenly filled with silence … silence except for Sari's choking. Finally, she manages to swallow her bacon and starts chuckling. "The only 'meat' she eats is tofu!" she laughs. "Of course, she makes her tofu meat taste and look _exactly_ like the real thing … only way you know it's actually tofu is if she's eating it."

Casey laughs as she finally cleans her plate. She stands and goes to the sink, washes her dishes, and promptly goes to the couch and plops down on it.

"Ahh … it's _so_ soft …," Casey sighs as she curls up in a small ball and immediately falls asleep. Her soft snores could be heard by all.

"Uh …?" Kyo, Yuki, Shigure, and Tohru say as one. How can that girl fall asleep so fast?

Sari checks to see what the others are doing. Everyone else is watching Casey. Sari smirks and snatches the last of the bacon and sausage and eats it. "Well, I'm done," she says when she's done, taking her dishes to the sink and washing them as well. Sari grins as the others discover that the remaining sausages and bacon had vanished while they were watching Casey. Sari goes into the living room, flops on the couch next to her sister, and grabs the TV remote. She turns on the TV and starts flipping channels at hyper speed.

"How can you keep up with that?" Kyo demands.

Sari glances at him then turns back to the TV. "I dunno. I just can," she replies, continuing to flip channels.

A few hours later

Casey yawns as she wakes up. She smacks her lips as she blinks a few times to adjust to the light. She looks around dumbfoundedly before…

"OM MY GOSH!!" She leaps to her feet, "I CAN"T BELIEVE I FELL ASLEEP!!" She groans as she fights a wave of tiredness and dizziness at the same time. She was surprisingly weak for having just ate. Well, that could be because she's only had _five_ hours of sleep in four days!

"Sari, I think I'm gonna…" Casey groans as a cloud of smoke blinds everyone's vision.

Lying on a pile of clothes was a reddish brown wolf with red eyes. The wolf whimpers as she looks up at Sari miserably …

* * *

Sarah: hehehe! We are _so_ evil! Who's the wolf? And where did Casey go? Wait for chapter 3! _**(laughs)**_

Aniasin: Yes we are … and proud of it, darn it!


	3. Um This is Odd

Friends of a Rice Ball

DG32173 & Aniasin

Sarah: yes, I know. We were so mean last chapter, leaving you at that spot. I bet you're like, "WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED?!" Well, you'll find out this chapter! Yuki, please do the disclaimer.

Aniasin: Before he does, I just wanted to say hi! So HI!

Yuki: all right. Sarah and Aniasin only own Casey, Sari, and this story.

_**NOTE  
**__**(Authors note) **_**  
**"Talking"  
'Thinking'  
Scene change  
**POV change**  
_Memory_  
_Scene change_

* * *

Chapter 3

Um … This is Odd

"What happened?" Yuki gasps as he stares dumfoundedly at the wolf lying on Casey's clothes.

"Where's Casey?!" Kyo demands as he, too, stares at the creature.

All Tohru can do is open and close her mouth, she's so shocked. She had heard rumors of Casey's shape-shifting abilities from Sari but had never actually _believed_ it. Casey whimpers as she looks up at Sari, as if _she_ should do something! Before Sari can even open her mouth, Tohru speaks. "So … you weren't joking after all," she says softly to Sari.

Sari smiles fondly at Tohru. "I don't joke about that sort of thing, To-chan," she replies.

"Joking about _what?!"_ Kyo demands.

Sari scowls at him. "None of your business, Carrot-top!" she growls.

"DON'T CALL ME 'CARROT-TOP'!" Kyo yells.

The wolf shakes her head, wondering what all the fuss is about. She only shape-shifted into a wolf from exhaustion … and the fact that the wolf was the first creature she thought about before changing.

"So what do we do now?!" Casey pipes up in frustration making Kyo's and Yuki's heads spin even more, "I'm tired and I'm grouchy!" she yells, glaring at Sari.

"What?" Yuki wonders as he looks at the animal, "She sounds just like Casey…"

"Come on! Don't keep me in the dark over here!" Kyo waves his hands anxiously while trying to get _somebody's_ attention … mainly Sari's.

Sari sighs, giving Casey a 'why did you do this to me?' look. She turns to Yuki, Kyo, and Shigure, who had walked in just as Casey shape-shifted. He was just too shocked by the sudden appearance of a wolf in his living room and the disappearance of a girl in said living room to talk. "Casey is a shape-shifter," she says calmly, drawing forth even more confusion from the boys. "When her body is stressed, exhausted, or something like that, she unwillingly shape-shifts into the very first animal she thinks of. Usually, it's a wolf, a horse or a falcon."

"Its not my fault!" Casey whines as she stands up. She had finally gotten some of her energy back, but not a whole lot; she cocks her head and trots over towards Kyo and Yuki. She stops by Kyo as she smells something weird. She sniffs the boy's hand curiously. Something about him seems weird … he smells kinda like a _cat_.

Kyo begins to spaz as he felt the wolf's fur on his hand. Being the cat if the zodiac, it is only natural for him to be afraid of dogs. Shigure, being family, was the only exception. He sighs in relief as the animal turns its attention onto Yuki. He still can't understand the whole 'shape-shifting' thing.

Yuki groans as it is, apparently, his turn to be sniffed out by the girl-turned-wolf. Now it is Casey's turn to spaz. She smells a rat…she _hates _rats! A deep rumbling growl escapes Casey's mouth, making Yuki even _more_ nervous.

Suddenly, Casey is grabbed by the scruff of her neck and dragged away from poor Yuki by Sari. "Casey-nee-chan! Stop that already!" Sari whines. Yuki gives an almost inaudible sigh of relief. Being growled at by a large wolf isn't exactly a 'fun' experience … even if the wolf _is_ the shape-shifted form of a friend! "You don't go sniffing friends like that! And you _especially_ don't go growling at a friend either! It's _rude!"_ Sari continues admonishing her sister about her behavior.

"But—but…the _cat_ and—and the _rat_!" Casey whines back as she lets out a whimper. Kyo and Yuki glance at each other with semi-horrified looks on their faces.

"There she goes with her crazy talk again," Sari mutters. "Quit talking nonsense, there are no _cats_ or _rats_ here!" she scolds Casey. "You can see that as clearly as I can!"

"But it's _not_ nonsense! There really _is_ …," Casey starts.

"So … you must have pretty good senses in your human form as well, huh?" Yuki asks as a diversion. He certainly does _not_ want his secret to get exposed, and he's pretty sure Kyo doesn't either.

"Yes …," Casey replies, a bit suspicious at the sudden change in subject. She glares and snorts at Sari before going to the pile of clothes on the floor. She turns her head at Shigure; everyone smells _weird_. Kyo smells like a cat, Yuki smells like a rat, and Shigure smells like a _dog_? Maybe Sari is right; maybe she really _is_ going crazy! Or maybe she isn't? Who knows? THIS IS SO FRUSTRATING!

"Where's the nearest bathroom?" Casey asks as she cocks her head at him. One, because she wants to change back and two, because she wants to walk by him and make sure he smells like a dog. She wants to make sure that she isn't crazy.

"Upstairs, third on the right," Shigure says, motioning to the stairs behind him. He has a nervous look in his eyes, and smells _extremely_ nervous. Just like Yuki had when he asked her about her senses as a human and he and Kyo _still_ do as they are watching her warily. Something is _definitely_ going on around here! Even Tohru has a slightly nervous smell about her … but at least _she_ smells normal!

"Thank you," Casey says just before picking up her clothes in her jaws and walking upstairs. She pauses beside Shigure and looks at him oddly. Yes, he _definitely_ smells like a dog. She shakes her head and continues on the way to the bathroom.

Sari sighs. "Sorry about her. She's crazy! She insists all the time that some people around us smell _different_ from everyone else! On the way here, we saw a kid with blondish hair and brown eyes. Casey was a wolf then as well, and she said that the boy smelled like a _sheep!_ He insulted me, but when Casey growled at him, he ran like a demon was after him! She wanted to chase after him because of 'wolf instincts'! Can you _believe_ that?! She's a nutcase! I can't even _believe_ I'm _actually_ related to a fruitcake like her!" she exclaims, scowling at the last spot her sister had been. She notes that at the word 'sheep', her four friends … well, three friends and Shigure … they flinch. "What's with you lot?" she asks curiously. "You're acting like I said there was air on the moon! Simply ridiculous!"

"I _heard_ that 'fruitcake' remark!" Casey growls at Sari, walking into the room in human form. "I'm _not_ a fruitcake! That kid _did_ smell like a sheep!"

Sari scowls at the older Hinori sister, then turns to the others. "See what I mean? She's a fruitcake!" she says.

"I am _NOT _a fruitcake!" Casey scowls back at her little sister. Then the room is filled with awkward silence. Casey coughs to clear her throat, breaking the uneasy silence. "So are we gonna leave, stay, do _something_?!" Casey wonders as she looks around. She still thinks that the three Sohma men are _weird_. Even in human form, she can still smell the animal essences on their skin. It makes her want to scream.

Sari scowls at her sister. "You are _so_ rude, Case!" she says.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Casey yells.

Sari smirks. "Call you what, _Case?"_ she asks. She ducks a punch to the head and responds by knocking Casey's feet out from under her, causing the older Hinori sister to fall on her back, sending all the air flying out of her lungs.

"I _hate_ it when you do that." Casey pants she stands. She can't keep her eyes off of the three men, especially Shigure. She can't help but feel a certain attraction towards him. She cocks her head as she continues to stare at the older man, making him very nervous.

Sari is very quick to notice that Casey is staring at the Sohma men. "Casey, _why_ are you staring at them?" she asks curiously. "You _do_ know staring is rude, right?" she continues upon gaining her sister's attention. "And you were _staring_ at the pervert the most!" she adds with a disgusted look. Shigure pouts at Sari, silently grateful for the girl to get her sister's attention _off_ of him.

"Huh? What?" Casey comes back to her senses as she realizes what Sari had said. Her face began to turn red as she lowers her head. "Sorry…," she says bashfully as she glances back up at Shigure.

"Oh, its all right." Yuki replies as he silently wonders why she was staring at Shigure in the first place. He could easily see the disgusted looks on Kyo and Sari's faces and the confused look on Tohru's face and the bashful looks on Casey and Shigure's faces.

"I'm gonna go back to the house…," Casey mumbles in embarrassment as she walks out the door and towards the trail that lead to the road.

"Eh … did I say something wrong?" Sari wonders softly. She has _never_ seen Casey so embarrassed that she actually _leaves_ the place of the embarrassment. She sighs. Suddenly, she hears a yelp of surprise.

Casey comes running back in, holding a sheep. "HA, I TOLD YOU SO! I_ TOLD_ YOU SO! SARI, SEE HE REALLY _IS_ A SHEEP!" she yells excitedly, holding the sheep towards her as proof.

"Quit yelling! You're giving me a headache!" the sheep says angrily. "And put me down!" he adds, trying to wriggle free from the shape-shifter's grasp.

Sari gapes at the sheep. That _sheep_ has the exact same voice as the kid from earlier! "Uh… what the _hell?!"_ she asks. She then remembers what her sister had said about the Sohma men and whirls on them. "SO SHE _ISN'T_ CRAZY?!" she demands, causing them all to stare at her in shock. Their stares transfer from Sari to the sheep to Casey and back to Sari again. Thanks to Hiro, their secret is blown…

* * *

Sarah: I think here would be a good place to stop. We weren't exactly planning on revealing the Sohma curse to Casey and Sari until next chapter … but I thought that, since my niece added the part about Casey going back to the Hinori house, this would be a perfect time for the secret to be revealed. Until next time! REVIEW!

Aniasin: Please…Gee, come on! Be a little polite. Do you think that maybe that's why we don't get as many reviews? Hmm?

Sarah: hmm… could be. Okay, _please_ review the story people!


	4. WHAT!

Friends of a Rice Ball

DG32173 & Aniasin

Sarah: here's chapter 4. We hope you have enjoyed the story so far. We don't own Fruits Basket. We _do_ own Sari, Casey, and this story, so please don't steal. Please enjoy the chapter!

Aniasin: Yes, stealing makes me very angry…ENJOY!!

_**NOTE  
**__**(Authors note) **_**  
**"Talking"  
'Thinking'  
Scene change  
**POV change**  
_Memory_  
_Scene change_

* * *

Chapter 4

WHAT?!

Casey puts the little animal down as she looks at Yuki, Kyo and Shigure, a mischievous smirk on her face. She sneaks away into the kitchen, seemingly disappearing from the face of the earth… or at least disappearing from the room. Sari knows that smirk only _too _well. Her sister is up to something, and it isn't going to be at all innocent.

Suddenly Casey comes up behind Shigure and hugs him. A surprised yelp escapes her mouth as she falls to the ground. Beside her is a dog sitting on Shigure's clothing.

"HA, I was right!" Casey yelps happily, "I'm NOT crazy!"

Sari stares at the large black dog. This is turning out to be one very … surprising day. She looks from the sheep, to the dog, to her ecstatic sister, and back again. "This _must_ be a dream," she mutters. Casey pinches her. "OW! WHAT'D YOU DO THAT FOR?!" she yelps.

"To prove to you that this _isn't_ a dream," Casey says happily. Then she turns her attention towards Kyo.

"NO!" Kyo yelps. He has a feeling what Casey is up to and he doesn't like it. "Don't even…" Too late. Kyo yelps as Casey wraps her arms around his neck.

POOF.

Kyo glares up at Casey. He was in his orange cat form. His red eyes sending daggers into the back of Casey's head.

"See, I knew it!" Casey sticks her tongue out at Sari. She was just too happy to prove her sister _wrong_ for once. It usually happens the other way around, but not this time!

Yuki knew what was coming and prepares himself. Yep, it happens. Casey hugs him as well and he turns into a small, grey rat.

"My nose knows!" Casey gloats as she looks over at Sari. The girl laughs at her sister as she sees the dumbfounded look on her face.

Sari looks at the four animals that were once humans, then shakes her head. "I'm going crazy," she mutters to herself. A sheep, a dog, a cat, and a rat all watch her, trying to anticipate what her next action will be. She sighs, and looks at the piles of clothes next to three of the animals. "Casey-nee-chan … let's get To-chan outta here before they change back," she says. Casey looks at her in confusion, causing Sari to motion to the piles of clothing. The older girl looks at the clothes for a few seconds, then turns tomato red. Sari grabs Casey's wrist and Tohru's arm and drags them upstairs to Tohru's room.

All four of the Sohmas transform back to their human forms and put their clothes back on. Hiro has to borrow some of Yuki's clothing, which absolutely swallow him since he's so much smaller then he is. They walk outside to talk out of the girls' hearing range…or so they thought.

"So what do we do now?" Yuki asks as they find a spot near the lake and sit on the rocks they placed there as sitting places. "Guess you'll have to go to Akito again, huh, Shigure?" he adds as he suppresses a shudder.

"Guess so…" Shigure sighs exasperatedly, "I don't think he'll be as kind to them as he was to Tohru. They might have to have their memories erased. Akito was already ticked when I told him about Tohru. Thinking about how mad he'll be when I tell him about Sari and Casey makes me shudder."

"Bah, I wouldn't worry about him." Kyo spits out, "Even if he says to erase their memories, who says that we have to obey him?"

"Stupid cat, are you out of your mind?!" Yuki leaps to his feet as he stares the cat down, "If he finds out that we didn't erase their memories when he told us too, he'll get very mad!"

"Just because you're afraid of him doesn't mean I am, ya damn rat." Kyo mutters nonchalantly, gaining indignant stares from Yuki, Hiro, and Shigure.

"We have to have our memories erased?" Casey pipes up fearfully as she comes out from her hiding place behind the trees. She was daydreaming while staring out the window and had noticed them walking out of the house and decided to follow them. "What are you talking about? I don't wanna lose any of my memories!" She added as several tears fell down the side of her face.

"Casey!" Shigure yelps in surprise as the four guys look up at the girl. How much had she heard? A lot, considering she is crying.

"Hey, didn't someone ever tell you it's not polite to eavesdrop?!" Hiro spits out angrily. This is the first time he has talked since his unexpected transformation.

"Who asked you?!" Casey retorts angrily as she glares at the little boy. Then she looks back at Shigure. "Is that true?" She mumbles as she looks at the ground trying to hold back her tears. She didn't want to forget meeting the Sohmas. They had become some of her best friends. She didn't want to loose that!

"Eh, Casey-nee-chan, you're forgetting something," another feminine voice says from behind her. The shape-shifter and all four Sohmas jump and whirl to stare at Sari. Unlike Casey, who's about to cry her heart out, Sari is grinning like a lunatic.

"Forgetting what?" Casey asks, confused.

"The Hinori 'influence' … and the fact that our memories have been tried to be erased before, but nothing worked at all," Sari says, cocking her head to the side with a smile.

"'Hinori influence'?" the four Sohma men say as one. Something about that sounds very familiar to them, but they're not sure what or how.

Sari cocks her head to the side in thought, trying to figure out how to explain it. "Well, the Hinori clan is also a 'cursed' clan. But unlike you Sohmas, where it seems only certain ones of you are 'cursed', _every_ member of the Hinori clan is captured by the 'curse'. And our 'curse' is a bit more complicated than just transforming into animals when hugged by someone of the opposite gender," she says. "Every member of the Hinori clan, even those wed into the family, is cursed with 'talents' that make us stand out greatly from our peers. Like Casey is a shape-shifter; I'm a psychic; our mother, who wed into the family, was a prophet on occasions; our father was able to twist 'reality' for someone and make it seem to become something entirely different through mental illusions; Grandfather has hyper speed healing and can heal _anything,_ even cancer, with just skin-on-skin contact; and I'm not sure about most of the rest of the family. Our 'curse' also prevents any _outside_ 'influences' to our existence, such as memory erasing or being deceived by illusions from someone not in the family. Our father was part of the family, and that was also his 'talent', so he was an exception."

"WHAT?!" the four Sohma men yelp.

Sari scowls at them. "You heard me perfectly well; I'm not going to repeat myself," she says acidly, causing them to involuntarily shudder. Casey lets out a huge sigh of relief as she wipes the tears off of her face. She begins to blush slightly out of embarrassment. How _could _she forget the Hinori 'influence'?

"Either way, I still have to tell Akito." Shigure sighs as he stares back at the lake, "I'm not looking forward to that. Let's just hope I come back in one piece…," he mumbles, gaining Casey's attention rather quickly and in the bad way too.

"One piece?!" She yelps cringing at the thought of someone getting hurt because of her. "ONE PIECE?! What's _that_ supposed to mean?!" She adds, panic ridden. She was so panicked that she was about to transform again… "What are you talking about?!" Casey yelps as she lets out a shrill neigh. She did transform, but this time into a brown horse with spotted patterns in black and cream … although she hasn't realized it yet. She walks up in between Shigure and Yuki. Yuki yelps in surprise as he falls backwards into the lake. Kyo bust out laughing as Yuki clambers back to shore.

"WHAT?!" Casey yelps as she turns to Yuki. The boy looks up at her indignantly as his clothes are now sopping wet. Then she catches her reflection in the water. Oh, she _did _transform after all. Damn it. Oh well… She helps Yuki to his feet and looks back at Shigure. "What do you mean by 'one piece'?!"

"Let's just say Akito has a _really_ short temper." Shigure replies as he shakes his head.

Sari cocks her head slightly. "Well, then we'll go with you!" she says, as if that's the most obvious thing in the world to do. "We won't let him vent his anger on you on our account," she continues, smiling brightly at the older man.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Shigure protests. "No 'outsiders' are allowed at Sohma house without express permission from Akito himself. He'll be furious!"

Sari just grins. "I don't care. Let him get mad; we won't let _you_ get hurt by him because _we_ found out about your secret," she replies.

"Yeah!" Casey nods her head, which is a very funny sight from a horse. "Some of you can ride on my back. He'll never know the difference!" She adds as she head butts Sari in the back. "What will you do Sari?" She wonders as she remembers something else. Someone would have to take her clothes with them.

Sari grins at Casey. "You mean you'll _actually_ let people other than me ride on your back?" she teases. It is _extremely_ rare for Casey to do such a thing.

"Yeah," Casey insists.

"Well, someone will have to carry your clothes," Sari says softly, looking at the pile of clothes on the ground where Casey had transformed. "I suppose I could carry your clothes. I can keep up with you, even if you trot in that form. Psychic powers are quite helpful," she murmurs. "Just don't gallop, even _I_ can't keep up with a galloping horse. And I don't feel like going to the house to get my bike."

"Bike?" Kyo asks. "What sort of bike can keep up with a galloping horse?" he demands.

Sari grins. "My custom built motorcycle," she says.

"Do you even have a license to drive it?" Yuki asks curiously.

Sari smiles brightly. "Nope!" she says happily, causing everyone else to sweatdrop. "But I've never been stopped by a cop before, and I doubt it'll ever happen. I'm a good driver. Been driving my bike since I was eight, when I built it."

"_You_ built it?" Kyo asks in surprise.

Sari grins. "Yup!" she says. "I bought every part from a custom motorcycle parts shop and put it together myself. It can even keep up with a bullet train. I used my psychic powers to build it to perfection."

"What sort of 'psychic powers' do you have, Sari?" Shigure asks.

Sari stares at him oddly. "What do you mean? I have all the powers related to a true psychic. I can read minds, levitate, teleport, move stuff around with my mind, change the entire structure of an object with just a thought … the list goes on and on," she says. Then she smiles. "But I rarely ever use my ability to teleport or read minds. Teleporting gives me horrid headaches; the further the teleport distance, the worse the headache. And reading minds without permission is just plain _rude."_

"Woah," Kyo says softly. "So there are drawbacks to your 'powers'?" he asks.

Sari looks at him blankly. "There're drawbacks to every form of power. When Casey shape-shifts a lot, she will then require a _lot_ of food and rest to get back to full strength. Mama's prophesizing happened randomly, taking over her body. After prophesizing, she slept for days. Casey and I both have a small bit of her prophesizing abilities. Hinori children always have a smidgen of the same ability as their mother, but it randomly selects the strength to appear in the child. Like I am just like mama; I prophesize on occasion, but it takes over my body. Then I sleep for at _least_ a day afterwards. Casey can only get 'feelings', so we always trust her instincts since my prophesies only happen randomly and only when the prophesy is about something major that will affect many lives, just like Mama."

"Can we get moving now?" Casey snorts impatiently as she waits for someone to get onto her back but no one seems to want to get onto her back. "Well??" Casey looks back at the Sohmas indignantly. Then she walks up behind Kyo and headbutts him in a way that sends him flying in the air to land on her back. She does the same to Yuki.

"Why do I have to ride with _him?!"_ Kyo demands.

"It's not like I wanted to ride with _you_ anyways," Yuki growls.

Sari scowls at Casey. "You know perfectly well those two don't get along and yet you force them _both_ on your back! How rude!" she says to the pleased horse.

"If they get too rowdy, I'll just buck them off." Casey replies nonchalantly and smirks as she notices the boys giving her a horrified expression. Sari and Shigure bust out laughing. Then Sari whips out a digital camera and takes a quick picture of the looks the boys are giving her sister. The flash catches their eyes and they turn to see what caused it, only to see Sari looking at the picture on her camera with Shigure, Hiro, and Tohru looking at it with her. Hey, when did Tohru arrive?!

"How interesting…," Hiro says blandly as he looks at the picture. He was vaguely wondering where that camera came from.

"Hey, I wanna see!" Casey trots over to the group and pushes her head in to where she could see the picture. She chuckles as she sees the looks on Yuki and Kyo's faces. "Wow that's priceless!" She laughs as she looks at Sari. "Hey sis, you should so put that on the school website!"

"You think so?" Sari asks curiously. "Maybe I should. I mean, it's not often that you get to see them so expressive."

"DON'T!" Yuki and Kyo yelp at the same time. If Sari puts that on her mini-site with the school website, their reputations will be _ruined!_ Sari's mini-site has like a million hits a day! Well, maybe not a million, but a whole lot of hits!

Sari looks up at the two boys on her sister's back. "I don't see the problem. Everyone would finally know you two don't _always_ fight each other," she says, truly not understanding the problem. "And everyone would also finally know that you actually have more emotions than what you show at school."

"THAT'S THE PROBLEM!" they yell, causing Casey to bust out laughing. And that's a rather peculiar sight for a horse.

"Um…if we're going to the Sohma house, I'm going to go get _my_ clothes." Hiro states as he walks back toward Shigure's house, "If I showed up in Yuki's clothes, I'd cause mayhem," he adds as he gives Tohru a nasty glare. Casey snorts at him, sending him running.

"That kid can be a real jerk sometimes." Casey glares at where Hiro had been standing. She couldn't stand that guy! "Well we better get going if we're gonna get there before dark. I take it that the Sohma house is far away." She adds as she turns to Shigure.

"Not that far, but we have to be careful about the crowds at this time of day," Shigure replies, glancing at the sun that's directly above their heads.

Sari scowls at the sun. "I hate noon," she mutters, causing everyone except Casey to look at her funny. Casey merely shakes her head. Sari hates noon because she _hates_ being in such bright sunshine. She has slightly enhanced senses as well, because Hinori siblings often share trace amounts of their 'talents'. The only part of Casey's 'talent' that Sari has is enhanced senses while the only part of Sari's 'talents' Casey has is to move objects with her mind if she concentrates hard enough. But it always gives her a nasty headache afterwards.

At this moment, Hiro returns, dressed in his own clothes. He looks at Yuki. "Your clothes are in the laundry. I don't think you'd want dusty clothes in your room," he says.

"Hang on tight, boys." Casey says as she suddenly bolts. Yuki strings his fingers through the mare's long fur. Kyo yelps as he wraps his arms around the horse's neck. Casey neighs happily as she feels the wind blowing through her mane. About five hundred yards ahead she stops leaving Yuki and Kyo dazed and out of breath. "That was awesome!" Casey yells excitedly as she lets out an excited neigh.

"That was _NOT_ awesome!" Kyo yelps as he tries to untangle his fingers from Casey's thick mane. "Not mention it _HURT!"_

"I guess that's what we get for riding bare back." Yuki hisses as he rubs the bottom of his back.

"CASEY-NEE-CHAN! I TOLD YOU NOT TO GALLOP!!" Sari's enraged voice yells from behind them as the white haired girl runs towards them at top speed, trailed by Shigure, Hiro, and Tohru. Sari pulls to a stop beside them, bending over to place her hands on her knees. "Are you _trying_ to make me collapse?!" she demands, gasping for breath. "And I do _not_ want to have to use my psychic powers to keep up with a galloping horse!" she yells at her sister. "And what about _them?!"_ she demands, motioning to Shigure, Hiro, and Tohru, who have finally caught up. "It's _impossible_ for them to keep up with a galloping horse!"

"Aw, I just wanted to give Carrot-Top and Mouse a riding experience." Casey whines as she bobs her head. She had stolen Sari's nicknames for Yuki and Kyo.

"NOW _YOU'RE _CALLING ME CARROT-TOP?!" Kyo blurts out as he glares down at the mare angrily. Casey just snorts making Kyo jump. "That's it! I'm gonna walk!" He yells leaping off of Casey's back. Before he can take more than three steps, though, he feels feminine arms wrap around his waist. POOF! He glares up at Sari, who's carrying him in her arms while he's in cat form. She has his clothes tossed over one arm, along with Casey's clothes. "WHY'D YOU DO THAT?!" he yells.

Sari just grins. "Cause I know how four people can ride Casey-nee-chan," she says, smiling happily. Kyo scowls as Sari leaps up onto Casey's back in front of Yuki, Kyo still in her arms. She half twists and wraps an arm around Yuki as well, turning him to a rat. "C'mon up, To-chan," she calls, holding Kyo with one arm and Yuki with the other. Tohru blinks, but obeys. Once she's settled behind Sari, Kyo is suddenly shoved in her arms. "You carry Carrot-top," she says.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Kyo yells at the white haired girl. But he doesn't' complain about having Tohru carry him. As long as he doesn't have to ride next to that _rat!_

"Um, what about us?" Shigure asks, motioning to himself and Hiro.

Sari blinks at him in surprise. "I guess you'll have to walk. I just want to make sure Carrot-trop and Mouse don't fight the whole way there," she says.

"DON'T CALL ME CARROT-TOP!" Kyo yells.

"Aw, don't worry." Casey looks backs at them, "I promise I won't bolt. I only did it to mess with the cat and the rat back there." She says, much to Yuki and Kyo's dismay.

"Well we better get going." Shigure says as he walks up to Casey's face. He pats the top of her back, running his fingers through her thick fur. Casey begins to trot towards the Sohma house with Shigure showing her the way.

* * *

Aniasin: Well, this is the end…sad isn't it? Just kidding!! This really isn't the end, its only the beginning! Right Sarah?!

Sarah: :P next chapter will have a little itty bitty teensy tiny surprise. Please review if you want to find out what it is!


	5. Stupid Kyo

Friends of a Rice Ball

DG32173 & Aniasin

Aniasin: Well since no one else is around, I guess I'll do the disclaimer. _(__**glares at Sarah sleeping on couch with arms wrapped around a rat and a cat, both of which are also asleep)**_Sarah and I don't own Fruits Basket. We only own Sari and Casey. Don't steal or we'll have Casey transform into a horse and chase you down.

_**NOTE  
**__**(Authors note) **_**  
**"Talking"  
'Thinking'  
Scene change  
**POV change**  
_Memory_  
_Scene change_

* * *

Chapter 5

Stupid Kyo

"So this is Sohma house?" Sari asks, standing on a trashcan to look over the high wall around Sohma house. "It's big."

"What _are_ you doing?" Yuki asks. Because Sari is _still_ hugging him with one arm, he is still in rat form.

"I gotta a bad feeling about this.." Casey knickers as she rears up slightly almost causing Tohru to fall off. She looks back at Tohru and Kyo. "Get off. I'm gonna change back and I need my clothes." She looks up at Sari who has her clothes around her arms. "Hey sis, I need my clothes."

"Just a minute! I see a kid with blonde hair … he's wearing a girls' school uniform," Sari says.

"That would be Momiji…," Kyo sighs in disgust as he shakes his orange cat head.

"Who??" Casey asks as she tilts her head sideways in confusion, "He's wearing _what_?!"

"That's what _I_ said!" Kyo growls as he remember the first day he saw Momiji in the girls' uniform, "I still can't see how the hell he calls wearing a dress 'cool'!"

"Seriously I need my clothes!" Casey pipes up angrily as she grabs the bottom of Sari's shirt in her teeth and yanks down, sending the girl and the rat crashing to the ground.

"OWW! But I was watching the kid! He looks _so_ adorable!!" Sari whines, tossing Casey's clothes on the horse's face. She then clambers back up on the trashcan to look for the kid.

"What's everyone doing out here?" a cute kid's voice asks.

Everyone looks towards the voice to see Momiji. Sari's eyes go huge as she goes to tackle the kid, shouting, "ADORABLE!" But the second her arms are around his waist, the kid transforms into a bunny. "EH?!" Sari yelps. Then grins and cuddles the bunny. "EVEN MORE ADORABLE!"

"Oh brother…" Casey mumbles as she trots off into the bushes. She changes back to a human and gets dressed as fast as possible so she can rescue that poor boy from her sister.

"Sari-imouto, let the poor boy go already!" Casey comes up behind Sari, slightly scaring her a bit. Casey glances down at her little sister. "Just because he's cute doesn't mean you can choke him. Besides, we've gotta go see this Akito, remember?"

"Right…," Shigure mumbles fearfully. He still wasn't looking forward to this visit one bit. Casey looks over at him; she could smell the fear coming off of him.

"Shigure, are you all right?" she asks the older Sohma as she looks at him concernedly. She walks up to him and puts a hand on his shoulder. She could feel the sweat underneath his clothes and smell an almost overpowering scent of fear in his blood.

Sari looks at the bunny, holding him at arm length. "Sorry about that, but you're just _so_ adorable! And I get kinda carried away when I see cuteness," she says.

"It's okay," the bunny replies, whiskers twitching. "You are cute too!" he says, closing his eyes and smiling at her.

"Ahem," Yuki says, getting Sari's attention before she can go into an 'adorable' phase again. "Mind if you let us go?" he asks politely.

"Okay," Sari says, putting the two on the ground. Kyo was already let free by Tohru while Sari was cooing over Momiji and had run into the bushes to change back and get dressed. Yuki and Momiji do the same as well, Sari tossing their clothes to them.

Meanwhile, Casey was still trying to get a word out of Shigure. "Come on. What's wrong?" She waits for an answer then suddenly realizes the problem. "You're scared of him aren't you?" She adds as she looks the man directly in the eyes. Her gaze makes the man uneasy. "You don't have to worry about him. You don't have to let him control you. Sari and I would die to protect our friends, right, sis?"

"And kill to protect our friends," Sari adds, causing everyone to stare at her in surprise. She just smiles. "I've killed for To-chan before," she says. "And Casey has killed because I was … hurt badly by someone."

"Right." Casey replies, "That was probably because I was in 'rage mode' but still … it's the idea." She adds her gaze never wavers as she looks at Shigure. "You don't have to worry. We'll be fine. We can protect ourselves."

Shigure smiles half heartedly as he thanks Casey and Sari. He sighs as he looks at the doors to the Sohma house. "Well, I guess this is it." He says as he pushes the doors open. "Come on, let's go."

"Wait for us!" Yuki and Momiji yell in unison as they scramble to catch up to the pack. They had finally turned back to humans and had just got dressed. Momiji had decided to play a prank and hide Yuki's pants. That prankster!

"He really needs to loosen up." Casey whispers to Sari as they enter the Sohma estates. "I can smell the fear from a mile away." She motions towards Shigure. She could still see the frightened look on his face. "I really don't see why he's so worked up."

"Maybe he knows something we don't." Sari replies as she looks thoughtfully at the Sohmas. "Maybe they all do. We just have to play it cool, okay?" She looks at Casey, waiting for a reply.

"Of course." Casey says as she realizes they were lagging behind. "Come on We're gonna get left behind!" She grabs Sari's wrist and runs to catch up with the others.

Twenty minutes later

"Why are _'outsiders'_ here?" a boy not much older than Casey snarls. He has short, plum colored hair and angry dark teal eyes. Those angry eyes are focused coldly on Sari and Casey.

"You see, about that …," Shigure starts nervously. "Eh, they … found out about the curse," he continues softly. Might as well spit it out and accept the consequences.

"WHAT?!" Akito roars in anger, going to slap Shigure.

Sari and Casey are suddenly between the two men, arms spread wide to protect Shigure. "It's not their fault," Casey growls. "It's ours," she continues.

"Are you able to break the curse?" Akito growls.

"I … I don't think so," Casey says unsurely. Then she gets slapped so hard she flies backwards. She stumbles off of the porch to land on the ground. Casey groans as she rubs her cheek, a red hand shaped print was on the side of her face.

"You are a useless fool then!" Akito says angrily.

Sari pales as Casey stands up. "I didn't hear you," Casey comments in an deathly sweet voice, standing as she turns a pissed off face towards Akito. "What did you say about me?"

Akito doesn't seem to take the hint. "I said, you are a useless fool," Akito says coldly. Casey's face becomes a demonic mask of rage.

"You _really_ shouldn't push her," Sari warns him. "She doesn't deal with anger very well." Sari glances at Casey, who has a murderous look in her eyes. "Now you've done it … you sent her into rage mode."

"Rage mode?" Tohru asks with a confused look on her face. "What's that?"

"You have no idea _who_ you're dealing with!" Casey snarls. If Tohru didn't know what rage mode was, she was about to find out … the hard way.

Casey continues to give Akito a demonic look as her eyes turn blood red, her canine teeth extend to a sharp point and her fingernails slowly begin to turn into claws. The girl begins to emit a deadly low growl that seems to come from another world. Her whole body begins to shake as she stares Akito down.

"Casey?" Tohru whimpered in concern for her friend as she watched the deadly transformation. Suddenly, an ear piercing neigh blew through the air. Casey, in horse form, snorts angrily and paws the ground angrily as she looks at Akito with malicious intent. Only this horse is completely _wrong!_ She has clawed feet rather than hooves, sharper than knives teeth, and demonic red eyes, as well as large, black bat-like wings.

"YOU LIAR!!" Casey growls as she paws the ground angrily. She neighs shrilly as she runs up to Akito. She rears up and paws the air. She bobs her head as she stands right in front of Akito. "Who are you calling _worthless_?!" She demands as she snorts in his face. "That's all I ever heard from my father!! 'You're worthless!!' 'You'll never amount to anything!!' 'Why did we ever have you!?' 'We should have given you up!!' Well he was wrong!! You're wrong!! I AM NOT WORTHLESS!!" She screams out at the top of her lungs, hurting everyone's ears. Sari can tell that she seconds away from either seriously hurting Akito … or killing him.

"She has some major issues," Shigure murmurs. Yuki, Momiji, and Hiro agree. Kyo and Tohru are too caught up in what's going on to hear Shigure's words.

"Casey, stop!" Tohru yells firmly as she throws herself in between Akito and the maddened horse. Casey stops long enough for Kyo — who finally gets up enough courage — to jump on her back. Big mistake. That move only sends the enraged horse into a bucking fit. Casey neighs shrilly as she bucks viciously in an attempt to throw Kyo off of her back. One wrong move here could cost Kyo his life.

* * *

Sarah: _**(sighs)**_ stupid Kyo. _Never_ jump on an enraged horse's back. That is suicidal. Well, we'll end it here. Yes, yes, I know. You're like "Kyo! What's going to happen to Kyo?!" or "You are so evil, ending it here! What's going to happen?!" or something like that. Yes, we are evil. We never said we weren't. Just review and wait as patiently as possible for the next chapter, please.

Aniasin: Good night everybody!


	6. Murderous Intent

Friends of a Rice Ball

DG32173 & Aniasin

Sarah: here's chapter 6. Yes, I know we were very evil last chapter, leaving you on such an awful cliffhanger. Well, now you'll find out what happens to Kyo, Akito, and the others.

Aniasin: Yes we are _so _evil. _**(laughs evilly) **_

_**NOTE  
**__**(Authors note) **_**  
**"Talking"  
'Thinking'  
Scene change  
**POV change**  
_Memory_  
_Scene change in memory_

* * *

Chapter 6

Murderous Intent

_Last time_

_"Casey, stop!" Tohru yells firmly as she throws herself in between Akito and the maddened horse. Casey stops long enough for Kyo — who finally gets up enough courage — to jump on her back. Big mistake. That move only sends the enraged horse into a bucking fit. Casey neighs shrilly as she bucks viciously in an attempt to throw Kyo off of her back. One wrong move here could cost Kyo his life._

_This time_

"YOU DAMNED IDIOTIC CAT!" Sari yells at Kyo, leaping on Casey's back behind him. She wraps her arms around his waist, turning him into a cat. She tosses him and his clothes to Tohru, motioning for her to get out of the way. "HINORI CASSANDRA!" Sari yells at the bucking horse, entangling her fingers in the wild mane so as not to fall off. "CALM THE FUCK DOWN ALREADY! DON'T LET THAT BASTARD PISS YOU OFF SO EASILY! HE'S NOT WORTH IT! HE'S NOT WORTH LOSING ALL THAT YOU'VE WORKED SO HARD TO GAIN!"

Slowly, as Sari continues talking to her, Casey stops bucking and calms down. Finally, the sheepish girl-turned-horse turns away from Akito, sticking her tail up in the air haughtily at him.

"I knew you wouldn't have the heart to actually do something." Akito laughs scornfully as he picks up an object off the nearby table. Casey snorts angrily as she bobs her head. This guy was _really_ pushing her buttons. A soothing word from Sari was the only thing keeping her from going back into rage mode.

"So _that's_ rage mode…" Tohru gulps as she then notices that Akito is rearing back to throw the object at Sari's head, "Uh-oh … SARI LOOK OUT!!" She yells out just as Akito's fingers left the crystal vase and it went flying towards the back of the girl's head.

Casey heard the warning and turns to face the man just as the crystal vase slams into her horse form's face. She jerks back as the shards sliced into her flesh. Casey lets out a painful neigh as she takes a step back. Now she's _really _mad. That bastard had tried to hurt Sari. _No one_ hurts Sari without feeling her wrath. She knickers as she tries to fight to fiery rage that threatens to consume her. She couldn't go back into rage mode, not with Sari on her back.

Suddenly Casey switched forms again leaving Sari to a painful crash landing onto the ground. She was back in rage mode and now she was a wolf. Her face was still bleeding badly from the cuts and gashes, especially from a nasty gash over her left eye.

Casey growls, her teeth bared and her fur bristling as she walks towards Akito. Before she gets more than a meter, though, Sari's arms are around her neck. "Don't give him the satisfaction of making you angry, Casey-nee-chan," Sari says harshly, loud enough for everyone to hear. "People like him _live_ for the pleasure of torturing, hurting, and angering those around them. Don't let him get that pleasure from you. I don't care that he tried to hit me with that damned vase. Had you not turned, I would have sent it right back at him without even touching it. He doesn't need the pleasure of having others around him submitting to his every whim. Whatever this 'bond' he has with the Jyuushini is, I'll break it with my powers … and then we'll leave him to be _alone!"_ she vows, glaring heatedly at him with suddenly crimson red eyes. _"He's_ the monster here, getting pleasure from the pain and torment of others. Sohma Akito, laugh and take pleasure in the pain and torment of others while you can. You won't have that 'luxury' for much longer, this I promise you."

"It is impossible to break the bond," Akito sneers. "You will never succeed."

Sari smirks, something that he definitely had _not_ been expecting. "Liar," she says defiantly. "I'm a psychic, remember?" she continues. "As you are now, your thoughts are as clear to me as words in an open book. Someone has already been freed of the 'curse' … freed from the bond as well. Only your piteous actions when you found out kept him by your side. You really _are_ a pitiful fool."

At this, everyone gasps. Everyone except Akito, Kureno _**(who had been there from the very beginning)**_, Casey, and Sari. Kureno flushes, Casey seems to be laughing to herself, and Akito is filled with rage. "HOW DARE YOU! HOW _DARE_ YOU, A COMMON WEAKLING, JUDGE ME!" he roars.

"Common … weakling?" Sari asks rhetorically, walking right up to him. She looks him straight in the eye, and then slaps him hard across the face, leaving her handprint on his cheek, leaving the viewing crowd in shock. No one has _ever_ dared touch Akito without being directed to, much less hit him in anger. "I may not be a Sohma. But I am _no_ commoner, nor am I weak," she says harshly as the man stares at her in shock with a hand against his pained cheek. "I am part of the Hinori clan that has ruled this area _over_ the Sohma family for hundreds of generations," she states. At this, everyone except Casey gapes at her. "My family is directly related to the crown of Japan; and _no one,_ especially not some sniveling spoiled brat like _you,_ is allowed to treat me as you have. I find it hard to believe that someone like you even _exists_ in the Sohma family. I've grown up being told stories of the noble and gracious Sohma clan; how the Sohma clan has _never_ allowed a spoiled brat to remain within the clan, much less become Head of the Family. Apparently, _you_ have become an exception," she continues harshly and angrily.

"Yeah. … she's right." Casey replies as she nods vigorously. She was back to being her normal, friendly self, "You have no right to tell us that _we're _worthless. _You _are the worthless one Akito." She adds with a triumphant wag of her tail.

At the moment, everyone around them is staring at Casey and Sari in wide-eyed shock. These two mischief-makers are related to the _Japanese royal family?!_ "Mah, stop staring!" Sari yells, pissed. "It's not like we're first in line for the throne or anything!" she continues. "Only second and third in line…," she mutters.

Casey glares at Akito as a mischievous smirk comes across her face. She walked up to the man just as calmly as can be and sits next to him like a dog. Akito looks at her confused and then it happened...Casey had wrapped her teeth around his wrist before he could blink. Akito gasped and glared down at the wolf as if daring her to do anything. Casey was only happy to oblige. Suddenly a deafening scream and the crunch of bones could be heard. Casey's fangs were deeply imbedded into the Sohma's flesh. Casey growls as she glares up at him, wagging her tail merrily.

Casey growls savagely as she crunches down on Akito's wrist once more before letting go. Akito screams out in pain as he grabs his wrist. Blood slowly drips from Casey's fangs as she smirks maliciously.

"GO GET HATORI NOW!!" Akito yells out as he turns towards Yuki. The boy jumps as he calmly walks out of the room then breaks into a run.

"Hatori?" Yuki calls out as panic begins to rise, "Hatori are you here? HATORI!!"

Akito has had enough. With his uninjured hand, he firmly grabs the scruff of Casey's neck. Casey yelps as his fingernails dig into her neck. The wounds on her face had finally stopped bleeding.

Suddenly, he feels a _very_ sharp blade at the base of his neck. Startled, he looks to his right to see Sari holding a dagger to his neck. "Let. Her. Go," she growls, pressing slightly on the blade. This causes the dagger to pierce the skin of his neck and allow blood to drip from the wound. "I'll kill you if you do anything to her."

Akito scowls at her. "You wouldn't kill me; you haven't the nerve," he says haughtily.

Only to be surprised when Sari presses much harder on the hilt of her dagger, causing it to go a lot deeper into his neck. The blade barely misses the major veins in his neck and his voice box. "Try me," she snarls. "I've killed before; I'm not afraid to do so again," she informs him angrily. "I've killed guys ten times as violent and powerful as you and twice your size. You're nothing but trash compared to them. If you don't let her go _now_, you'll find yourself hanging out with them in Hell."

"Let … me … go …." Casey suddenly shrinks to a very small white bird, a baby dove to be precise. The bird flutters away towards the ceiling before turning into a larger falcon.

"Sari … don't!!" Casey says as she lands gently on the girl's shoulder. "He's not worth it …"

"What's going on …?" Hatori gasps as he enters the room. A strange girl has a dagger _in_ Akito's throat. Apparently _not_ a Sohma, considering almost all of the Sohmas are afraid of Akito. A falcon is perched on the girl's shoulder. Yuki is right behind him, panting as he had run all over the Sohma estate to find Hatori, who was in his office.

He looks at Akito dumbfoundedly. His wrist is mangled and so is his neck. Then he turns to the girl with the falcon on her shoulder "Who are you? What have you done?!" he asks as he stares coldly at her. The falcon screeches angrily at Hatori, making him flinch. Falcons shouldn't have reddish-green eyes, like this one does.

"You must be this Hatori they spoke of. Don't worry," the girl says, turning to look at him with metallic blue eyes that have flecks of red fading from them. Akito is sitting _very_ still. One wrong move and the blade she is holding steady could very easily cut his head off. "I didn't do the wrist. My sister did. And if I hadn't stopped her earlier, you'd be finding _two_ mangled bodies instead of a single messed up man. And the wound to his neck isn't life-threatening; he'd already be dead if it was," she says.

"Sister?" Hatori asks, looking around the room for another girl.

"She's the bird," the white-haired girl says. "Casey-nee-chan is a shape-shifter." The girl jerks her dagger out of Akito's throat, allowing blood to spray over her clothes. "Better look at him now, though. My dagger was keeping him from bleeding freely." She turns back to Akito. "I hope you are grateful, you worthless trash," she snarls at the Head Sohma, startling Hatori. He has _never_ heard anyone speak that way to Akito before. "Had I _really_ wanted you dead, I'd have slit your throat without warning you. Next time, I won't hold back. Remember that and make sure there _isn't_ a next time if you value your life." With that, she moves away from Akito, cleaning his blood from her dagger with her shirt.

Hatori quickly moves in to see to Akito's wounds, starting with his neck. Surprisingly, not a single major vein nor Akito's voice box is even nicked, as the way that girl jerked her dagger away _should_ have caused major damage. Someone has trained her in weaponry extremely well. When the blood flow from Akito's neck is stemmed, Hatori moves on to the mangled and broken wrist. What looks like two sets of bite wounds mangle the skin of Akito's wrist, and the bones in his wrist are smashed, as if a great force had clamped down on them. "My sister did that while she was a wolf," the strange girl says from behind him. "He assaulted her for it, so that's when I stepped in with my dagger to 'convince' him to release her."

"When you said 'two mangled bodies', what do you mean?" Hatori asks, carefully setting Akito's wrist in a temporary splint until he can put his wrist in a cast later on.

"My sister had turned to a horse when in rage mode, and the idiotic cat over there decided that jumping on her back was a 'good' idea. I think his arm is injured from the bucking he endured before I got him off," the girl says conversationally, pointing to Kyo, who is cradling his left arm with his right.

"I'm fine," Kyo mutters. "Casey needs the attention more. Akito threw a vase at Sari and hit Casey's face instead."

Hatori looks warily at the falcon on the white haired girl's shoulder. Those reddish-green eyes are eerily watching his every move. The white haired girl lifts the falcon off her shoulder and cradles it in her arms. "Do you … mind changing back?" he asks the bird as politely as possible.

The falcon is just as wary of him as he is of it, and looks up at Sari for support. "Don't worry, Casey-nee-chan," the girl says softly, stroking the bird's feathers in a comforting motion. "I won't let anything happen to you."

The falcon nods, quite an amusing feat for a bird, and flies to a darkened corner of the room with large potted plants forming a circle around its landing spot. It carries clothing in its talons as it flies awkwardly, as if having trouble seeing from at least one eye. A small explosion is heard and smoke weaves through the plants. A few moments later, a girl with multi-colored hair comes out from behind the plants, dressed in men's clothing. The wounds on her face are visible to all, including a half-healed cut over her left eye, which she is holding closed. The white haired girl, Sari, hisses in sympathy for her sister, then turns a glare on Akito, who shrinks back. His experiences with the Hinori sisters have given him enough information about them to be _extremely_ wary of them from here on.

"Damn it." Casey sighs as she tries to open her left eye. The eyelids weren't cooperating. She could barely see out of it as is. That damn vase might have cost her an eye. She looks back over at Sari before stopping dead in her tracks. She smelled something…smoke, ash, burning…something was on _fire_!

"Fire." Casey whispers quickly as she tenses up. She tilts her head up so she can smell the air. She smelled it again. The burning wood, the smoke, and the ashes. "Fire." Casey repeats again only this time she was more panicked.

"What are you talking about 'fire'?!" Kyo blurts out. Casey just stands there, as still as stone. Hatori took this as an opportunity to look at the gash over her eye. All the rest of the cuts weren't as severe so he was confident that he could let them heal on their own. This one might require some stitches. And it had nicked her cornea, so she would be temporarily blinded in that eye until it heals.

"Fire?!" Sari squeaks indignantly. "We gotta get outta here!" she adds as she looks at Casey. Sari always trusts her older sister's instincts.

"There's something on fire!" Casey yells as she shakes Hatori back and forth; she was in pure panic mode. "We gotta do something! There might be innocent lives in danger here!" Casey knows she really couldn't handle another transformation right now, but she has no choice. She really didn't care about her wounds. They would heal on their own. But if someone lost a family member, then _those_ wounds would never heal. She knew this from experience. She knickers as she transforms into the normal horse form.

Casey looks for a way out. The only exit that she can see that's closest to the fire is the window right next to Akito's chair. Casey doesn't even wait for Sari to get on. She just has this feeling that someone's in danger and she can't waste any time. She runs full gallop towards the window. Akito gasps as he shields himself from the horse. He looks up just as Casey goes jumping through the window. Glass shards go flying in all directions. Some of them dig themselves into the head Sohma's skin, making him grimace.

"CASEY-NEE-CHAN!!" Sari yells after the animal, but to no avail. Casey was gone, heading for even more danger.

* * *

Sarah: well, this is an interesting twist. I bet you're wondering where the fire is. You'll have to wait for next chapter to find out. Please review!

Aniasin: Well … I ain't got nothing to say … until next time!


	7. The Fire

Friends of a Rice Ball

DG32173 & Aniasin

Sarah: well, here's chapter 7. Please enjoy. We don't own Fruits Basket, but we do own this story, Sari, and Casey. So please don't steal.

_**NOTE  
**__**(Authors note) **_**  
**"Talking"  
'Thinking'  
Scene change  
**POV change**  
_Memory_  
_Scene change in memory_

* * *

Chapter 7

The Fire

Casey runs towards the burnt smell as fast as she can. As she nears the house, she stops dead in her tracks. The horse's 'fight or flight' instincts are kicking in, fighting against Casey's consciousness. No, she can't let that person die. She trots up towards a crowd of people that are watching as the house is engulfed by the raging inferno.

"No, I have to go back in there!" A woman is fighting against a fireman tooth and nail as she tries to get back inside of the house. "My little girl...and my boy...they're both in there!"

Casey snorts as she walks up to the women and gently head butts her to get her attention "Don't worry! I've got it!" Casey says as she runs into the burning building.

As soon as Casey leaps through a window, shattering the glass, Sari comes running up, panting for breath. "Did a horse go inside?" she asks the fireman holding the woman. He nods, wondering what the white-haired girl plans on doing. Sari lets out a string of curse words as she runs for the window her sister had broken.

"Miss! It's dangerous!" another fireman says, grabbing her by the arms.

"Let me go!" Sari says. "I'm Hinori Sari; don't worry, I've done this several times in the past. But if you insist on stopping me, and that horse or whoever's in the house dies because of you, you'll find yourself in jail for life! That, or executed for treason!" she growls. "I'm related to the Japanese royal family," she adds to the fireman's shocked look.

At that, the fireman reluctantly lets her free. Going against the royal family is worthy of execution for treason. Sari puts a protective 'bubble' of psychic energy around herself and leaps through the window. Once inside, she follows the sounds of children crying and a horse galloping through the house. She finally makes it to a small bathroom, where Casey is trying to knock the door down with her hooves. Sari puts a protective 'bubble' around her sister and a psychic shield around the doorway. The fire has yet to reach inside this room, so the children are safe for the moment. Sari then uses her psychic energy to blast the door open. Once inside, she grabs both children hiding in a tub half-filled with water. "You little ones are so smart," she croons, putting them on Casey's back. Then she leaps on behind the kids, wrapping her arms around them and entangling her hands in Casey's mane to keep the kids from falling off. Just as she opens her mouth to speak, a small dog leaps up on the horse's back between her and the children. The poor creature is littered with burns, but otherwise alright. "Let's get outta here, Casey," she says. "I can't hold the 'bubble' up much longer!"

"Right." Casey nods as she runs through the doorway. She quickly finds the window she had busted to get inside and jumped outside just as part of the roof fell behind her. But just as she leaps through, the puppy falls off, causing Sari and the children to turn and watch in horror as the puppy is lost within the smoke-filled house. Casey neighs in surprise as she loses her footing and the three humans go falling to the ground.

Casey suddenly gets to her feet and runs around the side of the house transforming into a wolf on the way. She slinks in through a door. She has to go find that poor puppy. She can't just let her die.

Sari goes to run after her sister again, but two pairs of hands grab her arms. She looks back to see Kyo and Yuki holding her back. "Casey-nee-chan's in there!" she exclaims. "I have to go help her!"

"She's a wolf now, she'll be fine," Yuki insists.

"But she went after a puppy that fell off of her because of _my_ mistake!" she cries.

"Imo-chan is still inside," the little boy next to her whimpers, confirming that there is, indeed, a dog inside. The little girl is crying, worried for her puppy.

Sari kneels down next to the little boy and girl, gathering them in her arms. "Shh," she says softly. "My sister went inside to get her. Imo-chan will be alright," she murmurs soothingly.

Casey coughs violently as the smoke begins to take its effect on her body. She finds the bathroom and rushes in. The flames were slowly eating away at her fur and skin. Casey yelps as she leaps into the tub to cool off. She looks around and sees the pup behind the toilet. She runs to it. The puppy has fear written all over her face. She growls and lunges at Casey.

"Whoa, there pup." Casey says comfortingly. She grabs the scruff of the dog's neck. "It's okay. Everything's gonna be all right."

Even though Casey can't be sure of that. Another roof beam falls in front of the wolf. Casey begins to panic. She looks around for another exit. The smoke was clouding her vision making her eyes burn. Her body is littered with second and third degree burns and neither one of them are gonna make it if she doesn't do something drastic.

There she found it. The flames had eaten a hole in the wall big enough for her to fit. She runs through the hole and makes it out just as the house collapses behind them. Imo-chan whimpers gratefully as she licks Casey's face. Casey groans as she collapses to the ground, unconscious.

Six hours later

Casey slowly blinks her eyes open and looks around as best she can, what with the burns causing her stretching skin to _hurt_ badly. Suddenly, she feels a pair of arms gently wrap around her neck loosely, careful of the burns. "Casey-nee-chan," Sari whispers, burying her face into the fur on top of her wolf head. "I'm so glad you're awake," Sari continues. Casey can feel water drip onto her head. Sari's _crying?_ Sari hasn't cried once since she was a baby!

"How … long? And … the … puppy?" Casey asks before falling into a coughing fit.

"You've been unconscious for six hours," another voice says. Casey looks over Sari's shoulder to see Shigure kneeling behind the white haired girl. "The puppy is fine; she only has second degree burns at worst." The older Sohma man smiles at her. "You saved those kids and their puppy; you're a hero."

"Aw it was nothing." Casey says softly as she tries to stand but a surge of pain cripples her. She lets out a yelp as she falls back to the ground. Suddenly the little kids and their mother come walking up towards them. The mother has Imo-chan in her arms. The little puppy has bandages over the worst of her burns, and is coughing a little bit because of inhaling all that smoke. But the puppy seems like she will be just fine. Both of the kids run up to her, thanking her and praising her.

"Thank you." The little girl softly pats Casey on the head before running back to her mother.

"You're our hero!" The little boy yells from his mother's side as he waves to her.

"I don't know how we can thank you," the woman says, her voice was on the verge of breaking. "You risked your lives for us, and you didn't even know us. Thank you." She wipes the tears from her face as she turns around with her two kids and their puppy.

"You're welcome." Casey smiles weakly as she begins to cry herself.

"Saving people is in our blood," Sari says, smiling slightly as the family walks away.

"In your blood, eh?" Kyo asks from a corner, causing Casey to jump slightly from being startled. She hadn't noticed him hanging out over there. She looks around and sees Yuki standing in the corner opposite Kyo.

Sari smiles softly. "Our family has had a natural 'instinct' to save others for almost as long as the 'curse' has been in the family," she says.

"Sari…" Casey's breath suddenly becomes shallow and very ragged, her eyes sort of roll to the back of her head, and limbs are as stiff as a board. Casey's body is now starting to feel the effects of smoke inhalation.

"Casey-nee-chan!" Sari yelps, rushing to her sister's side. She turns to Shigure. "Tell Hatori-san we need an oxygen mask and tanks immediately!" she orders. "Her body is feeling the effect of all that smoke she inhaled. If we don't get oxygen in her _now,_ she could suffocate on the smoke and die!" she continues harshly when Shigure hesitates. That sends the man running out of the room in search of Hatori. Sari turns back to her sister. "Hang in there, Casey-nee-chan," she says softly, massaging the stiffened muscles in her sister's wolf body, trying to stimulate the blood to flow faster. It's a trick she learned from their mother, who was a very well-known doctor, and grandfather, who could heal any illness with just a touch of skin-on-skin contact. Casey has leapt into fires before to rescue people, and their mother and grandfather had been the ones to keep Casey alive until someone arrived with an oxygen mask and tanks.

"Sari…I—" Casey has this look of shock and fear in her eyes. "I—" Casey whimpers as she looks up at Sari. "I'm sorry…"

"Sorry? For what? There's nothing to be sorry for," Sari says softly, continuing to massage the wolf's stiff muscles.

"I'm sorry…" Casey groans as she lays her wolf head onto Sari's lap and drifts back into unconsciousness.

At that time, Hatori and Shigure rush in with the oxygen mask and three oxygen tanks. With Sari's help, Hatori puts the mask over Casey's muzzle and attaches the mask to the first oxygen tank. Sari uses her powers to shape the mask to where it can completely encompass the wolf's large muzzle.

"She's gonna be alright, isn't she?" Shigure asks as he stares down at the half dead animal. "You're sister is very brave. Not many people would have done what she did," he adds as he absent-mindedly ran his fingers through her fur. He is worried for the shape-shifter. It just doesn't look good for her.

Sari smiles at the man. "I think we got the oxygen to her in time," she says, turning back to her sister. She strokes her fingers through her sister's fur, mimicking Shigure's subconscious actions. "She just needs rest and quiet so the oxygen can do its job."

Casey opens her eyes long enough for her to transform back into a human. Shigure quickly takes off his jacket and throws it over the naked girl.

'I'm sorry for making you worry," Casey whispers as she smiles back up at Sari and Shigure, then the darkness overcomes Casey's vision and she drifts into a deep sleep.

* * *

Aniasin: Well that's all folks! Till next time! Review por favor? That's Spanish for please… --

Sarah: yes, please review!


	8. Christmas Preparations

Friends of a Rice Ball

DG32173 & Aniasin

Sarah: WE ARE SOOOOOO SORRY ABOUT THE LONG DELAY! HERE ARE FIVE CHAPTERS TO MAKE UP FOR IT! Oh, and yes, it may be a little late for Christmas, but we don't care.

Aniasin: Hey, where's Carrot-Top and Mouse?! There's supposed to do the disclaimer. Oh well, guess it's your turn now huh?

Sarah: we only own Sari, Casey, and this story. So please don't steal!

Kyo: _**(from a distance)**_ DON'T CALL ME CARROT TOP!!!

Sarah: also, a cousin to Sari and Casey will appear in this chapter. Her info is below. We own her as well, so don't steal her either.

Aniasin: Or Carrot-Top might beat you to a pulp…

Kyo: _**(runs up to Aniasin) **_don't call me CARROT-TOP!!!

_**NOTE  
**__**(Authors note) **_**  
**"Talking"  
'Thinking'  
Scene change  
**POV change**  
_Memory_  
_Scene change in memory_

_**DESCRIPTIONS**_

_**Nina**_  
_Name:_ Nina Hinori  
_Age:_ 20  
_Height:_ 5'10"  
_Eye Color:_ Dark green  
_Hair Color:_ Sandy Blonde  
_Hair Style:_ Super curly **_usually kept down at all times_**  
_Hair Length:_ Middle of her back  
_Status:_ Control over the elements (fire, water, earth, and air only!); Sari and Casey's cousin

* * *

Chapter 8

Christmas Preparations

It takes Casey about three months, from early September to mid December, to fully recover from her experience with the fire. Now, the Hinori sisters, Tohru, Kyo, Yuki, and Shigure are all decorating the Hinori manor for Christmas. And the Hinori manor is _very_ large. It's so large, in fact, that it dwarfs Sohma House.

"So where does this go?" Casey asks as she limps over to Sari with a long string of garland. The fire has left her with some muscle problems but other then that, she has recovered pretty well. She even recovered her eyesight from the wounds inflicted by the vase Akito had thrown.

Before Sari can answer, a huge crashing sound comes from the floor below them.

"WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING, YOU DAMN DOG!!!" Kyo's voice can be heard from the second floor.

"Clumsy neko and inu." Casey mutters as she puts the box of garland down and hobbles over to the banister. She peers down and sees Kyo and Shigure tangled in several strings of Christmas lights and garland. A ladder to the side is also tangled in some of the Christmas lights.

Sari appears beside her. "CAREFUL, YOU IDIOTS!" Sari calls down to them. "THAT STUFF HAS BEEN HANDED DOWN THROUGH GENERATIONS ON GENERATIONS OF THE HINORI CLAN!"

"HE'S THE ONE WHO TRIED TO GO UNDER THE DAMNED LADDER!" Kyo yells back, pointing at Shigure, who is trying to look as innocent as possible. This only makes him seem even guiltier.

Sari twitches. She is _very_ superstitious. "DON'T YOU KNOW THAT GOING _UNDER_ A LADDER IS BAD LUCK?!" she yells at Shigure.

"Oh brother … here we go again …," Casey mutters to herself as she slaps herself in the forehead. "There's no such _thing_ as bad luck Sari," Casey growls to the other girl as she glares over at her. She has said this a million times and, of course, Sari would never listen!

"Of course there is! Like Fridays the 13th or black cats!" Sari exclaims, shuddering. "Or breaking mirrors!" she adds. "Remember how you broke that mirror when you were six and I was five? And how you had rotten luck until you were thirteen and I was twelve? That's proof!"

"That was just coincidence!" Casey replies.

"Seven _years_ of coincidence?" Sari asks disbelievingly. "Once is chance, twice is coincidence, thrice or more is _way_ more than coincidence!"

"Um …?" Kyo and Shigure say at the same time. From the way the Hinori sisters are acting, this conversation has gone on many, _many_ times before.

"I give!" Casey throws her hands up in defeat as she reaches the top of the staircase, "I'm gonna go help Carrot-top and Shigure," she adds as she looks up at Sari. "Baka…," she mutters as she shakes her head, heading downstairs.

"I HEARD THAT!" Sari yells. Suddenly, the doorbell rings. "I'll get it!" Sari yells, leaping over the railing to land on the second floor with cat-like grace. She then leaps over the next railing to land on the first floor, also with cat-like grace. She races to the front door as the doorbell rings again. She swings open the door, only to scream in surprise. Standing on the doorstep, smirking at the white-haired girl with a hand on her left hip, is a very tall woman with super-curly sandy blonde hair that reaches the middle of her back and laughing dark green eyes. "NINA! CASEY-NEE-CHAN! NINA IS HERE!" she yells happily, hugging the woman. "Where've you been? How've you been? What are you doing here?" Sari says in a rush.

Nina smiles and hugs Sari in return. "Hey snowy," she says warmly. "I've been traveling a bit; I've been fine; and I figured I'd pay my cousins a visit for Christmas," she replies.

"Hey Nina," Casey calls out as she tries to untangle Kyo from the lights. "Damn boy, you sure are clumsy…," she mutters as she tries to get a particularly nasty knot out of the string that is wrapped around Kyo's arm, tying him to the ladder.

"It's _his_ fault!" Kyo growls angrily as he glares over at Shigure. "Damn dog…," he mutters as he then spots the Nina. He looks at her curiously. If she's a Hinori, what kind of talents would _she _have?

"Visitors?" Nina looks at the two guys curiously. Then she looks at Casey. The girl is wearing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt so all of the scars from the fire are clearly visible. So is the scar over her left eye. "Dang girl, what happened to you?!" She asks. Casey turns her head towards her cousin, leaving Kyo still tangled amongst the lights.

"Oh me, heh, long story." Casey mumbles as she goes back to her task. If Nina found out that she jumped into yet _another_ fire to rescue some people she didn't even know, she'd never hear the end. She could almost hear the older girl's voice now, _"What were you thinking you baka?! You could have died! What is with you?!" _On and on it would go until Casey's ears feel off.

Unfortunately for Casey, Sari decides to supply the information. "She jumped into a burning house twice to save two little kids and a puppy," Sari says, smiling. "I went with her the first time for the kids. She was in horse form, and I rode her back to keep the kids on. Sadly, the puppy fell off so Casey-nee-chan had to go _back_ into the fire for the puppy, this time in wolf form." Then she realizes something. "Oh yeah! Introductions! Nina, these are Sohma Kyo and Sohma Shigure; they're cousins," she says. "Carrot-top, Pervert, this is our cousin, Hinori Nina."

"DON'T CALL ME CARROT-TOP!" Kyo yells.

Ignoring his outburst, Sari continues with her introduction speech. "Nina is an elementalist," Sari explains. "She can control fire, water, earth, and air. She makes _fantastic_ firework displays."

"Err…," Nina looks a little uncomfortable with the attention she is getting.

"Aw, come on already!" Kyo yells out as Casey is taking her sweet time untangling the lights. "Can't you go any faster?!"

"Shut up! I'm trying to concentrate here!" Casey snaps back. She's getting really frustrated with these lights. They are being a pain in the rear.

"I got it." Nina sighs as she walks up to the tangled mass of lights. About ten minutes later, Kyo was finally free! Nina had untangles all the lights from the ladder, Kyo, and Shigure. Casey glares at Nina. Talk about making you feel useless! As Casey opens her mouth to say something, Nina speaks again. "We should put up white lights," she says, holding up several coils of white Christmas lights.

"No way! It's colored lights!" Casey says heatedly, snatching up several coils of colored Christmas lights. "White lights are so _bland!"_

"Colored lights make you dizzy!" Nina retorts.

"No they don't! They're attractive!" Casey growls back. "White lights are blinding!"

"No they aren't! Colored lights are!" Nina snarls.

Sari sighs. This could go on for hours if somebody doesn't stop it. "How about a compromise?" she suggests, causing her sister and cousin to turn to her. "Let's use both in combination."

"Fine with me." Casey replies.

Nina scowls. "All right," she agrees to the compromise … not that she wants to, but having a combination of lights is better than no lights at all.

"Great!" Sari cheers; she then turns to Kyo and Shigure. "Pervert, you hang the lights inside; Carrot-top, you hang the lights outside."

"Why do _I_ have to hang the ones outside?" Kyo whines. "AND DON'T CALL ME CARROT-TOP!"

"Because you're a cat," Sari replies. Nina cocks her head in confusion. He's a _cat?_ "And you spend most of your time on rooftops anyways. So climbing trees and on the roof will be no problem for you."

"I'll go hang the garland upstairs." Casey sighs as she limps back up the stairs to go back to what she was doing in the first place.

All of a sudden, Yuki and Tohru appear. Nina is the first to spot them, and glomps Tohru. "TOHRU!" she yells excitedly.

"Nina-chan?" Tohru gasps in surprise. She smiles brightly. "I haven't seen you in forever! How have you been?" she asks, hugging the older woman in return.

"I been good; been busy traveling," is the reply. She looks up at Yuki. "Who are you?" she asks.

"That's Sohma Yuki, Carrot-top and Pervert's cousin," Sari says. "Hey, Mouse, that's my cousin, Nina Hinori. She's an elementalist."

"Pleased to meet you," Yuki says politely.

Nina leaps to her feet, helping Tohru up as well. "Pleasure's all mine," Nina replies.

"Hey, To-chan, could you go help Carrot-top hang lights outside? Mouse, you're helping Pervert hang lights inside," Sari says suddenly. "Casey, Nina, and I are hanging the garland. We'll get to other ornaments later."

"Alright," Tohru says, smiling at Kyo, who blushes slightly and turns his head away to hide the blush.

Nina looks outside, her eyes twitching. She starts to get the feeling of being watched. A feeling she's felt before and _hates_ with a passion!

Nina huffs as she storms out of the house, passing Casey, Sari, Shigure, Yuki, Tohru, and Kyo, who all look at her confused.

"What's _her_ problem?" Kyo asks as he shrugs his shoulders in confusion.

"Uh…," Casey looks over at Sari. She was confused, worried, and even more confused about Nina.

Nina's shouts could be heard from outside as the ground began to shake.

"I DID _NOTHING_!!" Nina growls as she sends the two thugs flying backwards as she shoots several boulders at them.

Sari sighs as she looks out the window. "I hate stalkers," she says as she opens the window. "GET THEM GOOD, NINA!" she yells, sticking her head out the window. The cold, winter wind blows snow inside through the open window, causing everyone to shiver. Sari pulls her head back in, and they can see a fine layer of snow on her white hair. She closes the window and turns to the group. "Some people were spying on us. Nina always senses these things and hates it," Sari explains.

"No, that's not it…" Nina groans angrily as she storms back into the house. "There are these two guys who have been trying for almost four months to get me arrested. For what, I have no idea! They kept saying something about 'mutants' and 'threat to society'. That's a bunch of bull!" She glares back out the window heatedly before going upstairs.

Sari scowls and storms outside. "YOU BASTARDS! YOU BETTER LEAVE MY COUSIN ALONE OUR I'LL KILL YOU MYSELF!" they hear her shouting at the two guys. "AND I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU _THINK_ WILL HAPPEN IF I DO! THE COPS WOULDN'T ARREST ME OR MY FAMILY! IF YOU DON'T LEAVE MY FAMILY ALONE, YOU'LL WISH YOU WERE NEVER EVEN _BORN!"_ Everyone inside looks out the window to see Sari standing over two boys, who are on their backs in the snow. They are so pale that the snow looks dark compared to them. "NOW GET OFF MY LAND AND STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM MY FAMILY!"

With that, the two guys leap up and run as if the Devil himself is chasing after them.

"It's not just them…" Nina explains as Sari comes back into the house. Everyone stands still as Nina went on. "It started right after our last visit in the States. There are crazy rumors going around about a school for mutants. There have also been several incidents revolving around these people attacking others. It's insane and the government had made it a world wide problem now. There are crazy militants who will stop at nothing to rat out these people and kill them. If they see us use our powers, they'll kill us and they're all over the planet, so its not like we can run away from them."

"I'd like to see them try." Casey growls threateningly as she glares at the window.

Sari smiles, but it is _far_ from friendly _or_ happy. "If they _can_ catch me, I'll just let them see just how _mean_ I can be," she says, a psychotic look in her eyes. This sends shivers down everyone's spines, including Casey and Nina. "But I highly doubt they'll catch me."

"They'll have to deal with me too," Nina snarls as she cracks her knuckles.

Casey nods in agreement, her eyes turning slightly red. Then her nose begins to twitch. "We might have to back up our words sooner then we thought…," she mutters as she looks out the window, eyes wide with fear.

* * *

Aniasin: Well this is an interesting time to end the chapter…Oh and we might throw some X-men into the mix. So me and Sarah don't get sued, we don't own X-men. Right??

Sarah: _**(sighs as she checks her e-mail)**_ nope, we don't own X-Men or Fruits Basket … YET!


	9. Hinori Powers Unleashed

Friends of a Rice Ball

DG32173 & Aniasin

Sarah: here's chapter 9. Hope you have as much fun reading it as we did writing it. We don't own Fruits Basket or X-Men, just the Hinori family and this story.

Aniasin: Please don't steal from us or sue us! Randomness! I'm really hyper right now! SUGAR!! That's what sugar does to ya.

_**NOTE  
**__**(Authors note) **_**  
**"Talking"  
'Thinking'  
Scene change  
**POV change**  
_Memory_  
_Scene change in memory_

* * *

Chapter 9

Hinori Powers Unleashed

"We just can't get a break around here, can we?" Casey sighs as she gets ready to transform when she has to.

"Crap," Nina gasps. She has her hand on the floor and her eyes closed. "We're surrounded and outnumbered at least five to one. That's includes all of us."

"So what do we do?" Tohru whimpers at the prospect of another fight.

"OPEN THE DOOR!!" a voice yells as several fists began to pound on the door.

"Those twerps ratted me out!" Nina gasps angrily as she jerks her head towards the door. "If they want a fight, then they're gonna get one..."

Casey and Sari nod in agreement as they prepare themselves for the fight ahead.

"We've got your back." Kyo pipes up as he, Yuki, and Shigure walk up behind them. It'll be the day it snows in hell when these three abandon their friends. Kyo turns to Tohru, "You might want to go hide in a safe place somewhere...this could get ugly."

"OI! IF YOU DAMAGE MY HOUSE, I'LL HAVE MY UNCLE, THE _KING,_ SEND YOU TO JAIL FOR LIFE _AFTER_ PAYING FOR THE REPAIRS!" Sari yells angrily, sticking her head out the window. She quickly pulls her head in when someone fires a gun her direction. She slams the window shut and turns to the others.

"The _king_ is your uncle?!" Kyo asks Casey in surprise.

Casey grins. "We told you we're related to royalty," she says. "You just never asked how closely."

Sari scowls. "I meant what I said," she growls. "This house has been in the family as it is for millennia!" she exclaims. Then she sighs. "We best go outside so they don't destroy this house," she says. She turns to Tohru. "To-chan, go hide in my room. You know the password, and I've added your fingerprint and retina data to the locks when we were younger." Tohru nods and runs off towards Sari's room.

"Password, fingerprint, _and_ retina scan?" Kyo asks. "Aren't you going a _bit_ overboard?"

Sari grins mischievously. "Not at all. People have tried sneaking into my room for _years!_ Ever since I was little. Even Casey-nee-chan has tried going in. I don't suggest anyone but me and To-chan go in alone. I've got … surprises … for sneaks," she says secretively.

"Let's go." Nina opens a window and crawls out, barely missing get shot in the face. Casey screeches as she transforms into a falcon, her clothes falling to the ground. She screeches at Sari before flying out the window onto Nina's shoulders. She, too, barely misses getting hurt.

Nina puts her hand to the ground and closes her eyes in concentration. Suddenly pillars of earth come shooting out of the ground underneath several of the men sending them flying into the air.

Sari leaps out the window and lands on … air? This causes the people below to mutter among themselves then start yelling at her, calling her 'mutant'. Sari sighs as she sees some of them raise guns at her. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," she warns them. Several of them fire their guns. She sighs, and reverses the bullets' trajectories, making the bullets hit the people who shot them at the same speed the bullets were shot at. "I _told_ you not to do it, but do you listen? _No,_ I'm just a girl who can land on air. That's a lie," she tells them. "I'm a psychic, not this 'mutant' you talk about," she says as she motions her hand toward their guns; the guns jerk out of their owners' hands and fly up to her. This causes panic in the crowd as several of the people below dive for cover. Sari then acts like she's tying a knot, causing all the guns to tie into knots. She then releases the guns from her psychic 'hands', allowing the now useless guns to drop to the ground in a pile of twisted metal. The people stare at the guns in horror. If she can do _that_ to guns without breaking a sweat, there's no telling what she can do to humans!

Sari then motions her hand toward some nearby trees. The trees tremble and then tear out of the ground, roots and all. She then makes a motion with her hands, as if she's building something. The trees reconfigure themselves into a wooden shovel. Of course, this shovel is _huge._ She then scoops up part of the trespassing crowd with the shovel, causing them to cling to the wood in terror. What is she planning on doing with them? She moves her hand towards a large lake at the edge of her property and the shovel flies there at a bullet speed. With a flick of her wrist, the shovel tilts forward, causing the humans on it to fall into the lake. She then moves her hands in reverse of what she had done to create the shovel. The trees separate, turning back to as they were. She gently sets them back in their original positions. She watches as the humans in the lake swim to the far shore as fast as possible. Maybe she shouldn't have put them in _that_ lake. It's a lake with a huge school of vicious piranhas that have been known to eat humans alive. Then she shrugs. Ah well, serves them right. They trespassed onto _her_ land, attacking her house, and shooting at her and her family and friends without provocation. Let them try to out-swim those piranhas! Most of them won't make it to the shore alive, and most of those who do will have fatal wounds or missing limbs. The piranhas in that lake were bred to be vicious to those not 'branded' as Hinori family or friend. They're as sweet as manta rays to those who have the 'brand'.

Casey decides its time to act. She leaps out of the bushes in horse form with Nina on her back. With a growl of defiance, Nina sends a phoenix shaped fire storm towards several of the men, burning them to a crisp.

Suddenly the sky darkens. Storm clouds begin to gather, turning the sky black. Lightning bolts come flying down from the sky hitting only the intruders. A woman descends from the sky in a black suit with a black cape flying out behind her. Her eyes were clouded over and her white hair stood on end as she sent lightning bolt after lightning bolt at the men, paralyzing them.

From the bushes, several other people in black suits came to their aid. Casey panics as she sees a blue furred man and another man with sharp claws coming out from his hands. They immediately start attacking the men, tearing them to pieces.

Casey neighs as one of the intruders fires a gun at her. A block of thick ice appears in front of her, blocking the bullet. Casey shakes her head in confusion. She snorts as two other strangers came up to her.

"It's okay." The weird blue-skinned guy with three fingers tries to comfort her. His thick German accented voice is kind of hard to understand. A girl appears behind him and pats her thick fur, trying to comfort her.

"Stay away." Nina growls protectively as she sends a fire ball in their direction. They both back away and go on the attack against the intruders. Nina is surprised as the girl goes flying through one of the men and head butts him in the base of his neck, sending him to the ground.

A red beam of pure energy goes flying into several other men knocking them unconscious.

Sari scowls as she lands beside Nina. "Oi, Nina," she says. "They're _helping_ us, so try to be a bit nicer, okay?" she says. "And don't go scorching every living thing you see that's the least bit odd!" she exclaims. She turns to stare at a man coming to attack them with a dagger. "Pathetic fool," she growls, grabbing the man's arm and twisting it behind his back painfully. She twists his other arm behind his back as well, snatching the dagger from his grasp. "Ya know, if you and your buddies hadn't come trespassing on my land, attacking us _without_ provocation_,_ none of you would have died. Since you lot decided to disobey the signs and electric fences all around my land, you'll _all_ have to die so others will learn a lesson from you fools: _never_ attack a Hinori or friends of a Hinori on Hinori land if you wish to live," she says sweetly. She then grabs him by the neck with one hand, holding his arms behind his back with the other. She pulls his ear close to her lips, causing him to scream in pain as she stretches his spine in a way it wasn't meant to stretch. "Hope you like hot places, because your going to Hell now. Bye-bye," she says, snapping his neck. She then turns on the unconscious fools that these 'allies' of theirs, her friends, and her family had knocked out. She wraps a bubble around each of them, making the bubble airproof so that they all suffocate to death.

"What are you doing?!" the blue-skinned, three-fingered guy asks, staring in shock as the unconscious people die from lack of air. "Why are you killing them?!"

"They came on _my_ private property, attacking my home, my family, and my friends without _any_ provocation; so they will be used as an example so others will learn the lesson these fools missed. _No one_ attacks a Hinori or friends of a Hinori on Hinori land and lives to tell about it," Sari growls; her eyes had turned crimson red some time ago, signaling she has gone into a rage. "And those who try to stop me will meet their end as well," she snarls as some of their strange allies come towards her. They stop immediately. The white-haired girl is quite serious about murdering those who offend her family and friends. She looks at some of the people in bubbles who are not dead, nor will they be until after they tell her _why_ they came and attacked without provocation. "Those ones are the leaders," she says. "They will be alive long enough to tell me why they came and attacked without provocation. Then they will die in a most painful way."

Nina and Casey are busy counting the dead and dying. All those who were dumped in the lake are already merely skeletons lying forever on the bottom of the lake; that's how fast the specially bred piranha work. All in all, there were about forty intruders; only five are left alive for the moment. Sari doesn't handle fools very well. And attacking Sari's home, friends, or family is something only a fool would do. It sends Sari into a rage that usually ends with the death of the fool or fools.

"I wish it didn't have to end like this," the big, blue, furry guy says as he brushes some dirt off of his arm.

"It's their own fault." Nina scoffs as she leaps off of Casey's back. She pats the horse on the head as a thank you gesture. "They attacked without provocation; they were fools to do that. People doing something foolish results in sending Sari into an uncontrollable rage that almost always ends with the death of the fools."

"Woah…" the white-haired weather woman gasps as she watches this girl.

"Sari!" Casey snorts angrily as she walks towards Sari. She put her self in between her sister and the men. She put her head above the younger girl's shoulder _**(Think of those movies when you see the horse "hug" a human)**_. "Don't let them control you. They're not worth it. Calm down!" She neighs angrily as she backs up and head butts Sari in the middle of her chest, knocking the wind out of her. Sari gasps as she falls backwards onto the ground.

Sari blinks her eyes; the crimson red her eyes had turned is fading away, turning back into her normal metallic blue eyes. She rubs her head. "Dammit, got a nasty headache," she mutters. She looks around and sees the bodies lying under her shield bubbles. "I did it again, didn't I?" she asks Casey quietly. The girl-turned-horse nods.

"We need to talk…" The normal looking man with the weird visor over his eyes walked towards the sisters. Casey turns and glares at the man.

"Who are you?" Casey snorts angrily as she confronts the man.

"I'm Cyclops." The man replies. The rest of his friends walked up to his side, "This is Wolverine _**(The guy with the sharp claws)**__, _Jean, Storm _**(The weather woman), **_Iceman_**, (the guy who controls and creates ice), **_Shadowcat_** (the girl who walks through people and solid objects), **_The Beast_** (the big, blue, furry guy), **_and Nightcrawler_** (the blue skinned, three fingered guy**_**).**_"_

"I'm Casey." The horse's ears twitch nervously as she's unsure what to make of these _strange_ names. Nightcrawler? Shadowcat? How strange. "This is my sister, Sari, my cousin, Nina, and my friends, Kyo, Yuki, Shigure, and Tohru. What are ya'll doing out here?" She tilts her head questioningly.

Sari is busy staring at them. Their minds are wide open, no shielding at all. She's getting all their thoughts jumbled together, making her headache worse. "You … are you some of these 'mutants' those freaks were talking about?" she asks, massaging her forehead. They look at her in surprise. "I'm a psychic. You lot have no shielding around your minds whatsoever. Your thoughts are coming at me all jumbled together, making my headache worse." She stands up, only just realizing that she had sat down. "I'm going to lie down," she mutters, going in the house.

"Well that was rather…interesting." Kyo mumbles as he clears his throat and looks over at the strangers warily. He isn't so sure about these guys. Something about this lot gives him bad vibes. He walks into the house after Sari, followed by Yuki, Shigure, Nina, and Tohru leaving Casey alone with them.

"So…," Jean walks up to Casey. The mare stumbles backwards as Jean came closer. "It's all right. Our bark is worse then our bite…except for maybe Logan's…"

"I heard that," Logan mutters bitterly as he glares at the woman. Jean just shrugs her shoulders, letting the man's comment slide.

"We're sorry that we couldn't get in here in time to help more." Storm reaches out and pats the horse apologetic.

"What are you talking about?" Casey retorts as she shakes her head. "You helped us more then you think! You probably prevented me, my family and my friends from getting seriously hurt."

"So why don't you change back?" Shadowcat asks curiously, causing Casey to blush, if you can imagine a horse doing such a thing.

"Well I would…if I could….but I can't exactly…," Casey stutters and trips over her tongue. "That just wouldn't be a good idea right now." She laughs nervously as the crowd looks at her like she's crazy.

"When she transforms, she loses her clothing during the transformation; meaning that when she changes back to her human form, she will be without clothing," Sari's voice says from behind Casey, startling her sister. She scowls at the odd people hanging out in her yard, then sighs. "You might as well come in; it _is_ snowing rather heavily. I have a feeling this snow will turn into a blizzard before long," she says, turning to go back into the house. "Casey-nee-chan, you best change into falcon form," she says, looking back at her sister. "I don't think a horse will fit through the front door. And I don't think they'll be ready to see a wolf at the moment," she adds, motioning to the strangers. She walks up to the five men she had trapped under a psychic bubble that allows airflow, kneeling down outside the bubble. "Once you tell me why you came and attacked us on _my_ private property, you can leave with your lives if you swear you will never set foot on my land again or harm my family or friends; and don't think about sending more buddies in your place; they'll be turned into decorations for my fence," she tells them. "If you don't tell me the truth, and I _will_ know if you're lying, you will end up like your buddies, albeit more painfully along the way."

"We can't tell you why we came here, but we won't come back and we keep our word." The leader of the group glares at the girl before he and the few troops he has left run off into the woods surrounding the Hinori house. Sari scowls after them, then makes a motion with her hand to release the shield guarding the front gate so the men can get out. Once they are outside, she makes another hand motion to set the shield back up.

"That's the last we'll see of them for a while." Wolverine sighs, retracting his claws back into his hands. He goes to look over his shoulders but instead sees a flacon sitting placidly on top of his shoulder. He yelps in surprise, but keeps his cool as he follows Sari into the house, his friends aren't far behind them.

"Wonder what happened to the horse?" Nightcrawler asks as he looks around. _**(I'm not writing his accent. It's too complicated.)**_ Casey had flown off of Logan's shoulders and into the nice warm house. Logan goes to point to his shoulder but is even more surprised to find the animal gone.

"Weird bird," he mutters angrily as he and the other X-men walk into the Hinori house.

* * *

Aniasin: well that's the end of this chapter. I love plot twists. Hee!

Sarah: you really need to cut back on the sugar. You're jumping around like a jackrabbit!


	10. Explanation

Friends of a Rice Ball

DG32173 & Aniasin

Sarah: here's chapter ten. In this chapter, the X-Men will explain why they suddenly showed up. We don't own Fruits Basket or X-Men. We do own the Hinori family **(more will eventually show up)** and this story.

Aniasin: I am not here right now. Good bye!

Sarah: _**(blinks)**_ I thought I saw Aniasin. But she's gone now.

_**NOTE  
**__**(Authors note) **_**  
**"Talking"  
'Thinking'  
Scene change  
**POV change**  
_Memory_  
_Scene change in memory_

* * *

Chapter 10

Explanations

Sari, Tohru, and Casey _**(who's now in human form)**_ come out of the kitchen, carrying trays of hot cocoa for everyone; bags of marshmallows are also on the trays, since everyone likes a different proportion of marshmallows to cocoa. "Here," Sari says as the three girls put the trays on the large coffee table in the center of the living room. Then each girl grabs a cup and packs them with marshmallows. Once everyone has their own cup of cocoa ready, Sari clears her throat to gain attention from everyone. "Now, if you don't mind, would you explain why you're here?" she asks of the strangers.

"It's a long story…," Cyclops starts.

"We've got all night," Casey retorts as she sips her hot cocoa.

"Well, we heard some rumors that the radical movement against mutants had spread to the nearest country to California…that's Japan." Cyclops starts as Jean offers him some hot cocoa, but he refuses. "There's a school that our mentor, Professor Xavier, had started to help mutants gain control over their powers. He has telepathic powers and he sent us to check the country for mutants to make sure that nobody got hurt. We've spent nearly three months out here so far and have found nothing. Then we started hearing rumors about this family with extraordinary powers. They kept calling them mutants so we decided to investigate. Then we overheard a militant group planning the attack on your house. That's when he decided to take action."

Casey growls as she slams her mug onto the table. "That's why you showed up." She snarls angrily. "We're _not _mutants! What part of that don't you get?! These are genetic powers passed on from generation to generation! Even people who aren't related to us yet marry into the family get these talents too! Who in their right mind has the right to call us monsters?"

Nightcrawler clears his throat, his eyes are on the floor. Casey then realizes that she made a mistake.

"Aw man." Casey sighs as she looks at the man. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean—"

"It's all right." Nightcrawler replies as he shrugs his shoulders. "I'm used to it."

"I didn't mean ya'll—" Casey whines in protest but Wolverine stops her.

"Just let it go, kid," he says in his usual rough and tumble voice. Casey raises an eyebrow. 'Kid'? She wasn't so sure about this guy.

"Sorry about my sister; she's really touchy about the family curse," Sari explains. "As she said, though, these powers even go to those who marry into the family, whether they marry a female or male Hinori. It's a curse that's been in our family for hundreds of generations. Each Hinori gets their own unique power. But a mother always passes part of her powers down to her children, and the children have a small bit of their siblings' powers. Some members of the family find the curse as more of a gift from the gods. But most of us, my sister, my cousin, and myself included, find it to be an annoying problem. As I told you earlier, I'm a psychic. When people have little or no shields around their minds, I can hear their thoughts as clearly as I can read a children's book. When I get any extreme emotions, like with my rage earlier, my powers take over me and cause havoc. I've killed when I was younger because of it. Casey-nee-chan is a shape-shifter. When she gets full of any one emotion, even happiness, she transforms into the first animal she thinks of. This also happens when she is low on energy. Nina is an elementalist, able to control fire, water, earth, and air, as well as any combination of them. When she gets extreme emotions, her power goes out of control and causes a big mess with everything. I've had to 'alter' memories many times when we were younger because of this; same as when Casey transforms in front of a lot of people." She sighs. "As you see, it's very much a curse to us, rather than a gift. We trust very few people because of this."

"Speak for yourself…," Casey mutters bitterly as she glances out the window at the snow. "I trust _no one_."

"You trust _them,"_ Nina says, pointing to the Sohmas and Tohru.

"Only because she does," Casey retorts, pointing towards Sari. "I know that Sari wouldn't tell her secrets to just anyone. If she trusts them enough to tell them, then I trust them. That doesn't mean I have to believe them though." She was getting so angry, so upset, she just wanting to chew something into a million teeny tiny little pieces….

Casey snarls as she lies on the chair on top of her clothes. Her wolf teeth are encased around the chair's arm rest, gnawing on it. Anger is written all over the wolf's face. Her teeth are bared, fur bristled and hackles raised. Anyone who comes near her could get attacked without warning. Sari sighs, then turns to the others. "Don't go near her unless you want to be badly maimed or killed," she warns them.

"She's ruining the chair!" Nina exclaims.

Sari nods. "I know. We'll take care of it later. Let her vent her frustrations," she says.

"Listen, we have to ask you something." Cyclops looks at the trio cautiously, especially Casey, who's completely demolishing the wicker chair. "We need you to come to the states with us," he just spits it out, gaining a questioning look from Nina and a snarl from Casey.

Sari scowls. "No," she says flatly. "Casey and I only just got back home about four months ago. We lived in the states with our mother until she died; our father had died a few months previously, so we came to take our home back before anyone had a chance of taking or ruining it. We are not going back to the states, _ever."_ That's about as plain a 'no' as you can get.

"You'd be safer there." Cyclops protests, trying to get them to see his way of thinking. "They won't stop trying to kill you."

"Yeah, so what?!" Casey growls as she leaps off the couch and walks towards Cyclops, her eyes beginning to take on a red hue … more of a red hue than usual at least. "We'll just keep on killing them anyway! Who do you think you are?! You just can't tell us to leave! Not especially after we just got home! We're not kids! We can take care of ourselves!" she adds as she glares at Cyclops; her eyes are completely red now.

Sari sighs. "Hinori Cassandra, get back in your chair _now,"_ she growls; she's pissed. "And you lot. Don't think you can just show up on _our_ land and tell us to leave because we'd 'be safer' elsewhere. We've dealt with worse than those creeps and survived it," she snarls, turning on the X-Men. Her eyes are crimson red. "We'll just call in a few members of the family that live in Japan. With their help, we don't _need_ to be protected by 'outsiders'! Why should we even trust you? Just because you show up and help us out doesn't mean we have to trust you to protect us when the Hinori clan has protected itself and its friends since the very first Hinori, several hundred millennia ago. The clan had even been at war with the Japanese military, who went against the orders of the royal family, and survived. Just because some miscreants think they can go and kill off every odd thing in the world doesn't mean we'd run and hide. The Hinori clan _never_ runs from a battle like cowards! And we aren't going to be the first ones to break that tradition! Now get the hell out of my house and off my land!"

"You've gone _too_ far." Wolverine unsheathes his claws. He glares at Sari.

"Logan!" several of the others yell in unison.

"Let's just do what they say before someone gets hurt." Cyclops reaches out towards Logan, but it's too late. Logan snarls as he runs towards Sari.

Casey leaps up on Logan landing on his chest. The extra weight sends the man falling backwards. Casey put her jaws around Logan's neck. One well placed bite would sever his major vessels, voice box, and spine, instantly killing him.

"Give me one reason." Casey snarls as she gently nicks the man's skin with her teeth.

"THIS!!" Logan yells as he thrusts his claws into Casey's chest. The wolf instinctively bites down severing his major arteries and his voice box yet when she reaches his spine she can feel…_metal_? It was a gory scene; blood pored out from everywhere: Casey's chest and Logan's neck.

Casey pants as she tries to bite through this stubborn man's spine, but she can't. _**(The **__**adamantium). **_ "HINORI CASSANDRA!" Sari roars, scaring everyone in the room. Not even _Casey_ has ever seen Sari _this_ mad. "GET OFF HIM THIS INSTANT!" she continues. She walks up, grabs the wolf by the scruff of her neck, and uses her psychic powers to carefully pry Casey's jaws away from Logan's neck and Logan's claws out of her sister's chest while keeping the blood flow from both wolf and man to a minimum. She literally _tosses_ Casey onto the chair she had ruined. "Shigure-kun, Yuki-kun, Kyo-kun, Tohru-chan, see to her wounds," she orders. She then grabs the man on the floor by the top of his shirt. "I should let you _die_ for doing that in _my_ house to _my_ sister!" she yells at him. _"YOU_ have no right to say what goes too far or not under _my_ roof or on _my_ land! But because I don't want to make any more trouble for your friends, I will heal your wounds, you bastard! And if you even _consider_ attacking _anyone_ on my land again without provocation, I will kill you myself! My sister was protecting _me_ because _you_ were attacking me! She had every right to do so, but _you_ had no right to attack her!" she continues yelling, placing her hands gently over his neck. "Be grateful that I'll give you this one chance," she snarls, closing her eyes and concentrating on healing the wounds of the man. She carefully reattaches the arteries and veins together before getting to work on his voice box, a much more complicated thing to heal. After about twenty total minutes, Sari lifts her hands from his neck to reveal multiple scars where the wolf jaws had pierced through his neck. She glares at him as she moves away to go check on her sister. Before she leaves the room, though, she turns to the other X-Men. "I suggest you get him and get off my land before my sister is healed. She _will_ kill him next time she sees him, and I won't be able to stop her. Make sure to keep the bastard as _far_ from my land as possible." With that, she disappears deeper into the manor to find out how her sister is doing.

"Let me at him!" Casey growls savagely as she tries to free herself from the Tohru, Kyo, Yuki, and Shigure's grip. "Let me at him!" The wolf's constant squirming and wiggling was making it hard for them to check her wounds.

"He is leaving," Sari says as she walks into the room. "He won't be back. If he _does_ come back, you can have at him."

Outside

"Logan, you idiot!" Cyclops growls angrily as he and the others walk across the Hinori land. They had decided to take Sari's advice and leave before someone got hurt. "What were you thinking?! You could have gotten killed!"

"Have you already forgotten my abilities?" Logan spits out as he glares at Cyclops. The group stops in front of the gates. Logan and Cyclops get into a glaring match. The others groan as they know that this will more than likely take a while and it's cold. Not that they care, cause they don't.

"That's not the point!" Cyclops yells angrily. "The point is, we were trying to make them our friends and you attack them! You just better be glad that psychic girl decided not to kill you!"

"I would of liked to have seen her try." Logan snarls lowly, gaining an angry glare from Cyclops.

"Would you two stop already?!" Storm steps in between the two men before the fight got worse. She looks at Cyclops. "You're both to blame! You pushed them and you…" She turns towards Logan. "You know that the X-men only attack if provoked!"

"She had her—"

"She would have left you alone if you would have just got up and walked in the other direction!" Storm immediately interrupts Logan. Both men sigh as they realize that she is right.

"Its more your fault …," Cyclops mutters.

"I heard that!" Logan yelps. Cyclops turns around and both men begin to fight … again. Storm sighs as she shakes her head. This is a never-ending cycle between the two of them.

Back in the Hinori manor

Casey is in human form again and has bandages wrapped around her chest to cover and protect the healing wounds. She's supposedly brooding in her room. Sari is downstairs with Nina and Tohru, cleaning up the refreshments … well, drinks, since there was no food brought out.

* * *

Aniasin: Well THAT was unexpected! Well I guess you'll have to wait till the next chapter to see what happens…

Sarah: please review if you don't mind!


	11. Sudden Departure

Friends of a Rice Ball

DG32173 & Aniasin

Sarah: chapter eleven is now up. Please enjoy reading this! We only own the Hinori clan and this story. X-Men and Fruits Basket belong to other peoples.

Aniasin: Well I ain't got nothin' to say. Read and enjoy!!

_**NOTE  
**__**(Authors note) **_**  
**"Talking"  
'Thinking'  
Scene change  
**POV change**  
_Memory_  
_Scene change in memory_

* * *

Chapter 11

Sudden Departure

Casey just sits there staring out the window. She can barely see two of the X men members arguing with each other using her wolf eyes. Cyclops and Logan she figures, but she has plenty on her mind to think about besides them anyway. She can't help but think about the militant attack and what Cyclops had said. Maybe she and Sari weren't open-minded enough. Casey sighs; they have let their emotions get the better of them … again. Maybe they should have heard them out before going on the attack. Speaking of attack, she feels bad about attacking Logan. Although he asked for it … she still feels bad. Maybe the X-men were right; maybe they would be safer in the states surrounding by people with talents like them. They ain't mutants like those X-Men, but they are different like they are. She still doesn't like the idea of going back to the states, but...

"I'll be back." Casey says as she passes through the living room; she walks towards the door with a determined look. Sari is still pissed off so she doesn't even realize that her sister has left the house.

Casey grabs her blue jean jacket and hastily puts it on as she opens the door and goes out into the blizzard. "Eye of the leopard." Casey eyes start to glow reddish green as she scan the yard looking for the X-men. There they are … near the gates. She flinches as she can hear Logan and Cyclops yelling at each other from the porch.

She sighs as she runs across the snow covered landscape. She has to reach them before they leave. One, she has to apologize and two, she has to talk them into staying despite what Sari had said.

"Hey, HEY WAIT!!!" Casey yells out as she nears the group. Logan visibly stiffens as he sees her come closer. The two men immediately stop arguing as they notice the girl getting even closer.

"What do _you_ want?" Logan asks in a deadly low tone as he backs up against the gate.

"Just hear me out!" Casey pants as she stops between Shadowcat and Nightcrawler. "I've been thinking about what you said and if you really think I'd be safer with you then I'm in."

Logan and Cyclops look at Casey like she was crazy.

"Why the sudden change of heart?" Storm asks curiously. This girl  
is a confusing facade of emotions. One second, she is happy, another moment, she is enraged, and the next, she is sad.

"I let my emotions get the better of me." Casey replies shamefully as she lowers her head. "I should have heard you out instead of attacking. I'm sorry." she adds as she takes a cautious look at Logan. He had loosened up a bit and instead of looking scared, he looks confused.

"Apology accepted kid." Logan replies shocking everyone around him. Nobody had expected that, especially from Logan. Casey still isn't sure about being called 'kid'. Now she knows how Kyo feels about being called 'Carrot-Top.'

"But let's get one thing clear." Casey starts angrily, causing the X-Men to go on high alert. "If anyone attacks any member of my family again on purpose … they won't see the next sunrise." She growls staring at them all but especially at Logan and Cyclops. They seem to be the ones that would likely attack without provocation. Of course, they have really short tempers as well and that certainly doesn't help.

"Deal." Cyclops said as he stretches his hand out towards Casey. The girl nods as she takes it and shakes it, sealing the deal.

"So, what's ya'll real names?" Casey asks curiously. The names she had heard earlier had to have been their alter-egos.

"I'm Scott." Cyclops said as he nods his head.

"Ororo." Storm replies as she looks at the girl warmly. "But please just call me Storm."

"I'm Katherine." the energetic girl says excitedly as she grabs Casey's hand and shakes it energetically. "You can call me Kitty!" Casey groans as she tries to recover from the vigorous handshake. The girl _defiantly _has spunk!

"Kurt." Casey could tell the older man was nervous. He would never look at her; he always kept to himself. Maybe he was subconscious of the way he looks? Maybe all he needs is a friend?

"I'm Bobby." The young boy says as he slowly melts the ice encasing his body. He looks about Kitty's age maybe a little older. Casey wasn't sure how that man could survive turning into a block of ice but … the odd must stick together … right?

"I am Dr. Henry McCoy." the big blue fluffy guy still made Casey nervous. Doctor huh? How interesting …

"I'm Logan." the man whom Casey had attacked still had that gruff voice. It was gonna take some getting used too. "I'm sure you already knew that." Of course! He was a smart ass too.

"My name's Jean. It a pleasure to meet you." a woman was dark red hair was the last to introduce herself. So her alter-ego is her real name too. How peculiar. Casey couldn't keep her eyes of her hair. It was an unnatural shade of red like her hair was. Finally, someone who she could relate too about her hair…well, sort of.

"We can go back to the house, if you want." Casey suggests, making the group shudder and flinch.

"But what about..." Storm begins to ask about Casey's sister, but Casey just waves her hand nonchalantly as she leads the group back to the house.

"It's all right." Casey says. "It's not actually her house; its mine, since I'm the oldest. If she doesn't like it, then, oh well. It's my choice. She's gonna have to learn how to deal with it." She adds firmly as she enters the house.

Sari looks up as the front door opens. She scowls when she sees the X-Men walk in. "What are _they_ doing here?" Sari snarls, glaring at the X-Men … mostly at Logan. She can hold a grudge for years on years, as proven with Shigure. It is doubtful that she'll _ever_ forgive Logan for attacking her sister.

"I have something to tell you," Casey says as she looks back at Sari, uncertain if she wants to tell her sister that she's going back. "I've made my choice, I'm moving back to the States."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!" Sari yelps in surprise.

"I thought about what they said and I thought it would be the best thing to do." Casey replies calmly as she tries to control her temper. "It's your choice whether or not you'll come with me."

"I REFUSE TO LEAVE! AND YOU BETTER RETHINK YOUR DECISION!"

"You don't control me Sari!" Casey snaps as she walks to the bottom of the staircase. "I've made my choice. Now you have to make yours. I can't tell you what to do and you can't tell me what to do!"

"I'M NOT GOING! And you can't leave me!" Sari yells.

"We all have to make choices Sari. It's my life, my choices, and _I'm_ the only one who can change them!" Casey says in an end of conversation manner as she limps up the flight of stairs leaving Sari angry and hurt.

Sari turns a demonic glare on the people who stole her sister from her, causing _all_ of them to shrink back from fear, even Logan. They've seen her kill those who hurt her or her family. "You lot wait on the porch. It's my house now that Casey-nee-chan isn't here," she snaps angrily, pointing to the front door. They quickly file out of the house onto the large porch. They wonder if Casey really did make a good decision, leaving her extremely emotional sister to live here alone. As soon as they are out, Sari turns and runs up the stairs to her room. She closes and locks her door behind her; not even Tohru can come in now. She puts her back to the door and sinks down to her knees. She starts crying quietly. Mama's dead, Father's dead, and now even her sister is leaving her to live here all alone. Nina won't be staying much past New Years; that's just Nina. She can never settle down in one particular place for more than a few weeks at most. What did she ever do to cause all her family to desert her?

In her room, Casey sits on her bed. She has a couple of backpacks and a large messenger bag in her lap, but she just can't bring herself to pack. She is wondering if she made the right choice. She has to make it sooner or later. She can't live with her sister for the rest of her life, can she? She has to break out of the cage … she has to go places and experience things she never felt before. Even when they were in the States last time, their mom rarely let them leave the house. They were in a cage then as well and she wanted out. She always wanted out and now is her chance and she can't let Sari spoil it for her. But she'll be all alone. No she won't. She'll have Tohru, Yuki, Kyo and the other Hinoris. She isn't the only one.

As she walks up to her dresser she can feel someone watching her from her door. She looks to the door and sees Shigure. He has a look of confusion on his face.

"What do you want?" Casey asks softly as she goes back to her dresser. She was an expert packer and she was confident that she could pack a month's worth of clothes into two book bags and the rest of her necessities would go in the messenger bag.

"Are you sure that this is the right decision?" Shigure asks as he walks into Casey's room and sits on her bed staring at the bags.

"What's it matter to you?" Casey spits out, leaving Shigure rather hurt. He had come to see the energetic girl kind of as a daughter and hearing that kind of stung.

"You don't know how much you mean to you sister," Shigure replies, pushing his own emotions to the side. "She's in her room … crying. She really doesn't want you to leave."

"It's not about her." Casey sighs as she sits down. She begins folding her clothes. "I've never really liked my powers. I hate the Hinori curse. I want to be normal. I want to get out of this cage mentality. These people are giving me that chance. Why shouldn't I take it?"

"Is it what you want or what they want?" Shigure asks, surprised. He is startled to find out how much Casey is like Yuki.

"Do I look like the kind of person who could be forced to do something?" Casey raises an eyebrow at the older man.

"You mean more to your sister than you think." Shigure says sadly as he gets up. "You mean a lot to me too."

"Huh?" Casey looks up at Shigure. Her eyes seem to glow in the low light.

"Well …," Shigure clears his throat as he begins to blush brightly. He is glad that it is kind of dark. "I see you as a daughter and well, I don't want you to leave either."

"I'm sorry, Shigure." Casey shakes her head shamefully. She had no idea that's how he really felt. "I really feel like this is the right choice."

"Let's hope Sari feels the same way." Shigure sighs as he walks out the room. Casey can hear his footsteps as he walks down the stairs.

Casey clears her throat as she's about to cry. She quickly packs her clothes and her other necessities. As she's about to leave she grabs a picture of her, Sari, and their mom.

As Casey passes Sari's room, she stops and looks at the door. She can hear her sister's whispered words and almost non-existent sobs. "What did I do? Why does everyone leave me? Was I really that bad to everyone?" Sari murmurs between soft sobs.

Casey looks at the hasty note she had written for Sari. It reads,

_Dear Sari,_

_Listen, I may know that it feels like I'm abandoning you but I'm not. I'll be back. I promise. I just have to leave for a while. Think of it as a mission. I have to find myself. This is the only way. I want you to know that I love you with all my heart. I would never abandon you. _

_Love, Case _

"That's not enough." Casey murmurs as she grabs a pen out of her pocket. She opens the letter and quickly scribbles a post script.

_P.S. You were never bad to me. Of course, you have your quirks, but that's not the reason I'm leaving. It's more of an inner thing. I promise I'll be back. I'll call you and send you letters as much as I can. Hugs and kisses. From your nee-chan. _

Confident that _that_ is enough, Casey slips the note between the door and the floor to Sari's room. She nods her head as she walks toward the stairs. She really doesn't want to have to face Yuki, Kyo, Tohru, Shigure, and Nina, but she doesn't have much of a choice. Shigure's words are still fresh in her mind as she gets to the stairs.

"I hear you're going with those weirdoes," Kyo's voice comes from behind her, causing her to jump about a foot in the air and whirl around when she lands. He's leaning against the wall, looking the opposite way. "You should at least say goodbye to Tohru; she'll be hurt if you don't," he adds. He looks at Sari's bedroom door and scowls. "Sari isn't the same when you're not around, ya know?" he says, confusing Casey. "She's just too quiet and so fidgety all the time when you're not nearby. Even in school, she's like that. It's freaky."

"Where is Tohru anyway?" Casey asks as she looks at Kyo; she walks around so she can see his face. "Look, I'm not leaving because of something somebody did, alright?" she adds as she looks directly at Kyo's red eyes.

"I never said you were!" Kyo snaps. He turns his head away. "Tohru's in the kitchen, washing dishes. Sari offered to help before you came back with them weirdoes, but Tohru insisted on doing it herself. I think the damned rat is in there with her. Nina said she'd be in the 'armory'; do ya'll really have an armory?"

"Yeah, it's on the second floor, first door on the left." Casey mumbles as she walks past Kyo, continuing down the stairs, and to the kitchen. There are Tohru and Yuki; they are doing the dishes like Kyo said they were. She clears her throat to get their attention.

"Oh, hi Casey-chan," Tohru says, smiling brightly.

"Hello," Yuki says. Apparently, neither of them have heard the news.

Casey sighs as she drops her bags to the floor. She comes up from behind and hugs Tohru tightly. "I'm really sorry Tohru but I have to leave for a while. Can you make sure Sari stays safe?" Tears fall from her eyes as she hugs her friend.

"You're going with those people, aren't you?" Tohru asks softly. Casey nods. "We'll take care of Sari-chan until you return," Tohru adds, smiling brightly at her with her eyes closed and head cocked to the side.

"Take care in the states," Yuki says, nodding his goodbye.

"You seem to be the only ones taking this well." Casey mutters. Suddenly Nina comes bursting into the kitchen. She grabs Casey by the collar of her shirt and punches her in the face. Casey gasps as she falls onto the ground. She _definitely_ wasn't expecting that.

"Casey, you bitch!" Nina growls as she steps over Casey grabbing her shirt again. "Why the hell are you leaving?! Do you have any idea what you're doing to your sister?! What you're doing to me?!" she growls as she pants heavily; tears are falling down her face.

"Nina…" Casey gasps as she looks at her cousin, "I have to do this."

"Who says?!" Nina growls as the whole house begins to shake violently. Nina's temper is causing an earthquake.

"I'm doing this for me!" Casey yells. "Not because of anyone else!"

Nina growls as she throws Casey onto the ground. The house stops shaking, much to Casey's relief. Nina gets to her feet and sends a death glare towards Casey. "Guess I'll be hanging around here for a while …," she scoffs as she storms out of the kitchen.

"Casey-chan, are you alright?" Tohru asks, kneeling beside the girl.

"Yeah, I'm fine," the girl says, rubbing her cheek. Had Nina been even slightly more in control, she'd have hit Casey in the nose, breaking it. But her fury caused her to miss.

"What did Nina-chan mean about 'hanging around here for a while'? She didn't sound too happy about it," Tohru asks.

"Nina's a wanderer by nature; she doesn't settle in any one place for more than a few weeks at best. She says staying in one place for more than a few weeks is like setting yourself in a cage, because it gives you the opportunity to become close friends with people. And she claims that having friends ties you to their location for a long time, which she hates," Casey explains.

Suddenly, Sari walks into the room with a decent sized pile of gift-wrapped boxes. Her eyes and skin are so clear, you can't tell she had been crying minutes before. But her eyes hold a look that signals she feels like she has been betrayed. Sari holds the boxes out to Casey. "Since you won't be here to open them on Christmas with us," she mutters, looking away, "I thought I'd bring you your gifts to take with you. Just don't get too excited and open them before Christmas."

"Thanks." Casey mutters as she gets to her feet. She looks at Sari, wondering if she got the letter. Now wouldn't be a good time to bring it up, though. "Well I guess I'll see ya'll later."

"Don't you mean good-bye?" Nina spits out angrily.

"No I don't." Casey glares angrily at her cousin. "I _will_ be back. I promise." She adds as she grabs her bags, but she leaves the presents. "And when I get back, we'll have the biggest Christmas celebration you've ever seen." She walks out into the living room. She glances back at the group and, giving one last wave, she leaves the house.

* * *

Aniasin: Boo hoo! Gosh, this chapter is sad! Til next time … _**(cries)**_

Sarah: _**(crying)**_ poor Sari-chan! _**(suddenly brightens up)**_ at least Sari knows that Casey will be back! Casey _never_ leaves her presents unopened forever. _**(cheers) (starts crying again)**_ but poor Sari-chan!

Aniasin: Emotional are we? Yes we are! _**(sniffles)**_


	12. Christmas Day

Friends of a Rice Ball

DG32173 & Aniasin

Sarah: this is gonna be a rather short chapter, so be warned. We only own the Hinori family and this story, so no stealing. Oh my word! This is the longest story I've ever written! My longest story before was "From Before" and it only had 11 chapters. Well, the story could be this long because of my niece helping me.

Aniasin: Maybe…you never know…

_**NOTE  
**__**(Authors note) **_**  
**"Talking"  
'Thinking'  
Scene change  
**POV change**  
_Memory_  
_Scene change in memory_

* * *

Chapter 12

Christmas Day

Sari looks out the window of her bedroom from her position on her bed and is _very_ surprised to see that it's snowing. She smiles slightly. She always loved the snow. Then she remembers what day it is. It's Christmas day. Yuki, Shigure, Kyo, and Tohru had spent the night last night, 'just because it's Christmas' they claimed. Sari doubts that. They probably wanted to keep her company on her first Christmas without her sister. Just the thought of not having Christmas with her sister makes her start tearing up. She viciously wipes the tears from her eyes. She will _not_ cry! Especially not on Christmas Day, her mother's favorite holiday.

In America

Casey sighs as she stares out the window. She realizes that this is the first Christmas she's spent without her sister. She's only been in the States for about three weeks. She is Kitty's roommate and is beginning to wonder if 'rest' is in her vocabulary. She's like the energizer bunny for Pete's sakes! Always going and going and going…! She never stops!

"Happy Christmas, Casey!" Kitty pipes up behind Casey making her jump up. The girl has something behind her back.

"Merry Christmas Kitty." Casey smiles weakly as she looks back out the window. She wipes the tears off of her face. She will not let anyone see her cry. But she still misses Sari. She will have to call her in a couple hours. She is still wondering if she got the letter she left her before she left.

"You miss your sister don'tcha?" Kitty asks cautiously. She knows that is a touchy topic for her. Casey nods, tears falling down her face.

"I'm gonna call her." Casey smiles as she reaches for her cell phone. "Hope she's awake." She mumbles as she dials her home phone. She waits anxiously to see if anyone picks up.

"_Hello?"_ It wasn't Sari's voice, it was Tohru's!

"Tohru?!" Casey blurts out curiously. "Oh hi! Merry Christmas! It's me, Casey! Is Sari awake?!"

"_Merry Christmas, Casey-chan,"_ Tohru says excitedly. _"Sari-chan's waking up the boys while I'm making Christmas breakfast."_

"Oh dear lord, those poor guys." Casey mutters sending Tohru into a fit of giggles. Casey looks behind her and notices Kitty staring at her anxiously. She's still hiding something behind her back. Casey sighs. "Say hi, Kitty."

"Hey!!" Kitty yells happily into the phone making Tohru's ears ring. "Merry Christmas!!"

Casey pops her ears as she puts the phone back to her ear. "Can you put Sari on the phone for me?" she asks, waiting for Tohru to recover from getting her ears blown out.

Japan

"DAMMIT! WHY THE HELL DID YOU THROW WATER ON ME?!?!" Kyo's voice echoes throughout the entire house.

In the kitchen, Tohru looks up at the ceiling. _"What the hell? Sari threw water on Carrot-top?!"_ Casey yelps.

"Sounds like it," Tohru comments.

"_Well put her on, put her on!" _Casey yells impatiently. She really wants to talk to her sister. All of this waiting was making her impatient.

"Okay," Tohru says. Tohru walks from the kitchen to the stairs, her slippers making a soft thumping noise on the hardwood flooring in the Hinori Manor. "Sari-chan, Casey-chan is on the phone!" she calls up the stairs.

Seconds later, Sari is beside Tohru, snatching the phone from her. "Hey Casey-nee-chan!" Sari says excitedly. "Merry Christmas!"

"_Hey Sari."_ Casey replies. At the same time, Kitty says it as well deafening the poor girl. _"Kitty, will you hush up already?!"_ she scowls at the younger girl.

"_I can't help it." _Kitty's voice could be heard on the other end is line as well. _"I'm really excited! It's Christmas! Merry Christmas whoever's on the phone!" _

"_Don't mind Kitty." _Casey sighs as she tries to drown out the other girl's constant chatter. _"You can say she's a little excited. So how's everything over there been? Did you get that note I left you?" _She has to ask sometime. Why not now?

Sari scowls; Casey _had_ to bring that up, didn't she? "Yeah," she murmurs noncommittally. She quickly changes the subject. "Everything's been good. Tohru and the boys slept over last night. I whooped Carrot-top at Rich Man, Poor Man," she says, grinning. She _loves_ beating people at her favorite card game. Well, second favorite; her absolute favorite is poker. "He had to sleep in the armory from our bet," she adds. "We said whoever loses, except To-chan, has to sleep in the armory. And you know how drafty that room is! He was shivering when I left him after pouring water on him to wake him up. It was such a sight to see! He acted just like a cat forced into a bath! Well, he is a cat, but that's not the point!"

"_Ha, I would have paid to see the look on his face!"_ Casey laughs as she rolls over onto her back. _"I bet it was priceless!_ _So—"_

America

Casey stops as she hears a crashing sound coming from outside of the room. She makes sure she is decent and walks to the door. She can hear Sari asking if everything is okay. She isn't sure of that until she opens the door.

Casey busts out laughing. She sees Rogue and Bobby tangled amongst each other on the floor. Bobby, it seems, had iced the hallway and was sliding back and forth down it. Rogue had stepped out of her room to get something to eat just as Bobby was sliding down the hallway. They had crashed into each other in front of Casey and Kitty's room.

"Are you two all right?" Casey reaches out to help Rogue up. She refuses the hand and uses the wall as a support to get to her feet.

"I'm all right." Bobby replies as he thaws out the floor. Rogue just glares at him and walks down the hallway to the stairs.

Casey laughs as she goes back to her room. She can hear Bobby as he runs after Rogue, trying to apologize to her.

Japan

"_Sari, you should have seen it." _Casey says in between bouts of laughter. She just couldn't help herself. It was funny!

"I can read minds over the telephone, remember? I saw it too. That was hilarious," Sari laughs. "And don't worry about missing Carrot-top's look; I got it all on video! I'm gonna show this to the others later!"

"NO YOU WON'T!" Kyo yells, snatching at the video camera.

"NUH-UH, CARROT-TOP!" Sari says, putting a bubble around herself and the camera. Kyo slams into the bubble and slides to the floor. This is also caught on camera. Sari laughs harder. "Oh, man! Casey-nee-chan! You shoulda seen what Carrot-top did! He went after my camera, I put a bubble up, and he slammed straight into it! That's also on film!"

Casey smiles as she flops back down on her bed. _"I can't wait to see it! I bet it was hilarious!" _

"_Very_ hilarious!" Sari adds, grinning.

"_Well I gotta go."_ Casey says as she smirks. She can just imagine the look on Kyo's face when he got a bucket of water dumped on him. Very amusing. _"Something's happening downstairs. Have a great Christmas sis. I'll call ya later tonight okay?" _

"Sure; bye Casey-nee-chan!" Sari says; with that, the two hang up their phones.

America

"Hey what's wrong?" Casey asks as she runs down the stairs. The Professor, Nightcrawler, Storm, Logan, Jean, and Cyclops are all in front of a television. The news is on and it seems like whatever was on was not making them happy.

"Hello?" Casey waves her hand in front of Logan's face to get his attention. Then she looks at the TV. There's are several people attacking one of the power plants.

"I see Magneto, Pyro, Callisto and Mystique." Storm says her eyes narrow with anger. "There putting lives at risk! We have to stop them!"

"Let's go." Logan, Cyclops, Nightcrawler and Storm walk out of the room. Casey, Shadowcat, Jean, Bobby and Rogue follow them.

"I heard the news." Rogue says as they walk through the maze of hallways.

"Magneto? Pyro? Callisto? Mystique? What's going on? Who are these people?" Casey asks curiously as she follows them.

"They're members of the Brotherhood." Logan replies bitterly. "They give mutants a bad rap."

"It doesn't matter." Kitty pipes up. This is the most serious Casey had seen her since she moved in. "Innocent people are in danger." They have made it the bottom floor. Logan turns to face Casey.

"You better stay here kid." he says making Casey angry. She was beginning to hate that nickname.

"I can help." Casey retorts as she looks back at Logan. Her face is full of determination.

"Look, you have no idea what Magneto and his goons can do." Scott replies firmly.

"I can still help." Casey replies once again. "I bet you didn't know either when _you_ first battled them," she points out.

"Fine." Scott gives in to Casey. He doesn't feel much like arguing, anyway. "Let's go." Casey smirks as she and the others walk out of the mansion.

* * *

Sarah: I think here's a good place to stop this chapter. _**(looks at length of document)**_ seven pages. I guess it turned out longer than I expected.

Aniasin: Yeah…onto the next chapter! _**(cheers) **_


End file.
